Rottmnt Leo X Reader - Tumblr Posts

Hanahaki Disease

TW: BLOOD, VOMIT AND DEATH ARE MENTIONED IN THIS

The boys x gn!reader

Description: how the boys would react to the reader dying from Hanahaki Disease

Before separation:

You stared down at the bloody petals in your hand, panic rushing through you. Looking around the room you noted how the boys hadn't noticed the bloody flower in your hand. You coughed some more and covered your mouth, trying to hide the flower buds erupting from your throat.

Mikey looked over curiously and tilted his head. " What's up Y/n ? " He asked and shifted closer. You panicked and closed your fist. Donnie raised a brow leaned forward. " Y/n. What's wrong? " He asked and narrowed his eyes. This caught the attention of the other two.

" It's nothing " you said again before letting out another cough. Leo took a nervous step forward and held a hand out to rub your back. " Y/n ? " He whispered with worry. Blood dripped down your chin as another flower bud crawled up your throat. You let out a small gag and cover your mouth before running to the bathroom. You doubled over the toilet seat and pulled a whole ass flower from your throat.

You heard the door open and looked up nervously to see your crush standing in the doorway. " Y/n " they whispered softly.

Leo

Leo stared at you with panic. He looked down at the petals that you had dropped. " Y/n what is this ? " He asked, worry filling his voice. " And don't. Lie to me. " He told you seriously.

You nervously gulped and shifted to your side. " I... " You whispered staring down, tears welling your eyes. Taking a deep Shakey breath you walked yourself to look up. " I uhm...I- " you were cut off by more coughs.

You let out a wheezing gasp and leaned forward, thorns scratching your throat as you coughed up while flowers, stems and all. You let out a small gag and grabbed your throat, before gagging one more time and doubling over.

Gasping, you vomited out flowers and vines, blood staining everything. Leo covered his mouth and stared at you with fear. " Y/n ! " He yelled and ran over to you before falling to his knees. He held your hair back and took shakey breaths.

" No...no, no, no, no, no, no " you sobbed and wiped your lips. " I was doing so good " you cried and hit the floor. You looked up at Leo, tears streaming down your cheeks. " Leo I- " you started before getting cut off by his broken sob. Freezing you finally registered the fact he was crying.

Your heart shattered. The thought of making the turtle in front of you cry broke you. The fact you made a single tear fall from his beautiful fucking eyes made you this close to having a breakdown yourself. " Leo " you whispered and coughed more.

" Why didn't you tell me " the male hissed and stared at you with longing eyes. " Why didn't you tell me you loved me " he repeated and smacked your hand away. You shrunk away and took a deep breath. " I...I don't know...you seemed so...happy when I wasn't around. So I suffered in silence. " You muttered and rubbed your shoulder

" I'm really so- " before you could continue you coughed more. Your lungs suddenly felt like they were collapsing in on themselves. You let out a pained gasp which led to more coughing. Leo jumped and stared at you with fear, getting ready to hold your hair back.

You let out a small whimper and gripped the collar of your shirt. Coughing more, you had a feeling your insides were being ripped to shreds. Your breath quickened. Obviously. Your mind flooded with thoughts of dying in front of your love.

You let out a small sob, coughing more. You leaned over, more flowers and petals slipping through your lips. Leo rubbed your back worridly and stared down at you. " Y/n... " He whispered and leaned forward.

You didn't hear him. Your ears were ringing, your vision blurring. " Y/n ! " He yelled and cupped your cheeks. You gasped and grabbed his forearms, your eyes flooding with tears. " What " you croaked out, your throat being destroyed.

" I know it won't save you now but...I love you " he told you and rubbed your cheek bones. " I love you Y/n. I have. I couldn't tell or show you because you were never around. I could've helped you " he sobbed and stared at you with broken eyes

You opened your mouth to speak. All that slipped out was a small croak of pain. You shakely cupped one of his cheeks and gave him a small smile. You pulled him closer and wiped your lips. " Thank you " you whispered softly.

All feeling left your body after that, a sensation that could only be marked as pure bliss washing over you. There was faint screaming but it wasn't enough to snap you out of it. At last. You were in peace

Mikey

You heard a Shakey gasp and shot your head up to see Mikey staring in the doorway. " Mike " you whispered softly. You saw the fear in his eyes and panicked yourself.

" N-no ! I'm okay, this is- " you started before getting cut off by another cough. He stumbled over to you and fell to his knees, holding a hand out for you. You held his wrist and kept coughing.

Another flower erupted from your throat and landed in his hand. He jumped and dropped the flower, panic filling him. " Y/n ! Why didn't you tell me !? " He yelled and stared at you with genuine fear.

You let out a small whimper and flinched away. You stared down at your hands and played with your fingers, tears pricking your eyes. You felt another flower trying to erupt from your throat but you absolutely ignored it. Or tried to at least.

Your throat felt like it was being torn apart from the inside. Tears started to slip down your cheeks, cooling them down for a split second. " Mikey " you whispered, cutting his rant off. " Mikey I'm sorry " you whimpered and held your throat.

" N-no....no, don't be sorry " he said quickly and cupped your cheeks. " Don't be sorry Y/n " he whispered. " J-just focus on you " he told you and pushed some of your hair out of your face.

You let out more painful coughs, blood rising with them. Spitting out some saliva you shared down at the blood slowly joining the rest. " Mikey I.... " You whispered, your vision getting blurry.

You leaned against his plastron, whimpering to yourself. " Mikey I love you " you whispered softly, your breath shortening. " I'm sorry I didn't tell you " you croaked out. You heard a broken sob and felt a tear land on the top of your head. You knew what it was but could get yourself to look up. " I'm sorry " he sobbed and pulled you closer.

You simply shifted to hug him, exhaustion hitting you like a wave. You slowly closed your eyes, not realizing your breath had slowed to where it was about to stop.

" I love you " was the last thing you heard.

Raph

You heard a knock on the door and looked up, tears welling in your eyes. " Y/n ? " He asked and bit his lip. " H-hey Raph " you squeaked and wiped your lips in a desperate attempt to hide the blood flowing down.

" What're you doing ? " The snapping turtle asked and walked over. You cleared your throat before coughing...hard. Letting out a small whimper you grabbed your throat, another flower bud erupting from its confines.

You let out a pained gasp and fell back, using your other hand to catch yourself. You looked over at Raph's worried expression, his eyes filled with fear. Your heart shattered knowing the one you loved was watching you die even though he didn't realize it.

You gagged and leaned forward, panting a little. You coughed more before reaching your hand up to your lips. You opened your mouth as wide as you could and pulled out a large flower from the back of your throat. This triggered your gag reflex causing you to double over and vomit up blood and bile with a couple of flower petals mixed in.

Fear filled your body as you felt the scratches in your chest and throat get worse. " Y/n ! " Raph yelped and wiped your chin. " Oh god " he whispered softly. " Shit, shit, shit, shit " he repeated and looked around with worry. " Y-you'll be okay. I'll get help. Donnie's gonna have something " he started and looked down at you.

You had a small, broken smile on your lips. " Why are you smiling " he cried and stared at you with worry before it clicked in his head. " You...you wanted to d- " He whispered before you cut him off. " It was a better option than to see you drift away " you whispered softly.

" No...no you could've told me " he whimpered and stared at you, tears sliding down his cheeks. " I thought you would've rejected me. We would've lost what we had. " You whispered and pushed away from him. " Besides. This is better than being alone. " You dryly joked.

He opened his lips to say something else before you coughed some more. He realized how bad +your condition was. You watched as reality slowly hit him. " Oh Raph " you whispered and stared at his broken expression. He hugged you tightly and buried his face in your shoulder. " This can't be happening " he cried.

" I can't lose you. " He sobbed. You hugged him in return, ignoring the new batch of flowers and vines crawling up your throat. " I love you Raphy, I always have and I always will. " You whisper in his ear, your vision getting foggy.

" Stay. With. Me. " He demanded through gritted teeth, tears staining your shirt. " Please Y/n. " He hiccupped and pulled you closer.

" I'm sorry. " Was the last thing you could say before your lungs gave out

Donnie

You heard a small gasp and looked up at the softshell standing in the doorway. " Don... " You whispered and stumbled back. " Y/n...what's going on " he asked with a serious tone.

" N-nothing ! " You whimpered and rubbed the back of your neck. He knew you were lying. It was clear as day. You coughed some more and pulled some petals out from your mouth. " Y/n... " He whispered and stared at you with worry.

You shrunk back and stared down at your lap, tears slowly welling in your eyes. You opened your mouth to say something but more petals fell out. You coughed more and pulled out a full blooming flower out of your throat.

" Y/n " he whispered and walked twords you, fear in his eyes. You refused to look up. You /couldn't/ look up. You couldn't see the frustration and pity in his eyes, or that plain, dead panned look he always wears. You used to love it but now that he knew your secret you couldn't bear to see it.

" Y/n look at me. " He told you and crouched next to you, his hand nervously reaching out to you. You coughed more and pulled more flowers and vines from your throat.

You slowly looked up at him with a pained expression. " Donnie. " You whispered and held your throat. You stared in his eyes and saw worry. Genuine worry. " Don... " You whispered softly and took a Shakey breath.

" Don...Don I-I'm so- " you started before he cut you off. " Don't. " He growled and shook a little. You flinched at the tone and spat out some blood. " Why didn't you tell me. " He hissed and looked up at you with a pained expression.

You're breath caught in your throat. " Donni- " you gasped and coughed more, blood shooting up from your lungs. Letting out a small whimper you spat out a large pile of petals coated in a shit ton of blood.

You took frantic and shakey breaths, more vines climbing up your throat. You pulled multiple flowers and vines out from your throat, blood sliding down your chin. Donnie fell back and took panicked breaths himself. " Y/n " he whispered and scrambled up.

" L-lets get you to the lab or-or med bay. " He told you and pulled you up. You stumbled and fell into him, a small groan slipping from your throat. " Donnie " you whispered. " Maybe I can make something to help you. It shouldn't- " he kept on ranting, not acknowledging the fact you had said something.

You gave him an annoyed look and shook your head. " Donnie " you said louder. He still didn't hear you and kept ranting about ways he could possibly help. " DONNIE ! " You yelled. He shut up and stared down at you with pain, tears streaming down his cheeks. " We have to find a way " he whispered and wiped his eyes

" No. It's...it's too late. " You whispered and cupped his cheeks. " I'm sorry " he whispered, breaking down in your arms. " I'm sorry I never noticed. " He apologized and wiped his eyes.

" Donnie " you croaked and let out a small broken sob. You coughed some more and leaned away from the two of you to spit out some plant life. " I should...I should be sorry. " You whispered and wiped your lips.

" There has to be a way to save you. " He whimpered and stared down at you. He held you close and cupped your jaw. " There isn't...I'm-I'm sorry... " You whispered, tears slipping down your cheeks.

" I just want to be with you. " You whispered and wiped your eyes. Your knees started getting wobbly and your lungs didn't want to work anymore. You fell to the ground and coughed, gasping for air. " Y/n... " He sobbed and kneeled next to you.

" I love you. " He whispered and pulled you to his plastron, not caring about the touch. " I love you so much " he cried and buried his face in your shoulder. " I'm sorry I'm leaving Don. " You whispered and looked up with teary eyes. " I love you too, Donatello Hamato. " You whispered before going limp in his arms.

.:Fin:.

Sooooo, how we find after this? Good? I hope not. I wrote this in the span of one day I think. It was an adventure. I've made many people cry on this adventure. I hope you guys enjoyed it :D

Philophobia

WARNING: I'd like to clarify that philophobia is real and different from being asexual or aromantic. To put in very simple terms, philophobia is the fear of falling in love that is often but not always caused by a trauma revolving "love", asexuality is when you feel no sexual attraction to anyone, and aromantic is when you feel no romantic attraction. Not everyone with philophobia is asexual or aromantic and not everyone who is asexual and/or aromantic has philophobia. Not to say that it impossible to have all of the above, it's correlation not causation.

Ship: ROTTMNT Leonardo X Reader

Pronouns: They/Them

Summary: This is when he find out you have philophobia

(Not my GIF)

Leo found out because he is invested in your love life. You tell him all the tea all the time about the drama of the people in your life and so knowing your own drama is no difference. You didn't tell him directly that you have philophobia at first, but he put two and two together because of everything you've told him.

Anytime there is a love interest in your life you do nothing about it. When someone likes you, you lie about noticing it, even when all the stuff they do is one giant scream for your attention. When it’s you who likes someone, you always have some excuse to not confess. You're just content with liking them from afar and taking your feelings to the grave. The one time where you have a crush on someone who clearly likes you back is when Leo found out why your like this.

You tell him your trauma with love, the reason you feel like love is just not meant to be for you. You cry of course, it's not easy retelling something you'd rather never happened at all, but he sits there quietly as you do, not a single joke, quip, heckle, or sound. You tell him how and why, you tell him your fear of what happen and of it happening again. How you just aren't ready to feel the bad part of loving someone that comes with the good, even if the good could possible weigh out the bad, its just not something you're willing to risk.

When you finish, he's left speechless, he knows he has to be delicate in his response because he doesn't know how else to deal seriousness in the kind of manner you need and after seeing you break down in front of him he knows that he has to help in some way. He opts for the safest approach of just rubbing your back, he wants to comfort you but is scared that his touch might scare you when you're vulnerable. If you lean in closer then he'll just hold you and rest his head on yours, he lets you cry on him if you want. He doesn’t try to do anything selfish like try to look at you or anything, he just holds you without saying a word and tries his best to stay completely still. If your don't like the touch, then he'll stop and say thank you for trusting him.

Once you compose yourself again, that's where he's back to his good goofy self. He's there trying to make you laugh and takes you to do something stupid to make you feel better. He wants to let you know that whether you want a relationship with someone or not, you always have him to have the kind of relationship you don't have to be scared of and can depend on, and promises that if a similar situation were to ever happen again that he’ll come be your hero.

I can just imagine reader purposely doing it to mess with him 😂

Leo: I've been dropping them the most insanely obvious hints for like a year now! No response.

Y/N: wow they sound stupid.

Leo: but they're not. They're really smart actually. Just dense.

Y/N: maybe you need to be more obvious? Like, idk.. "hey! I love you"

Leo: i guess you're right. Y/N, I love you.

Y/N: See? Just like that!

Leo: holy fcking shit.

Y/N: if that flies over their head, then I'm sorry Leo but they're too dumb for you.

Leo: Y/N.

Donnie, eating popcorn watching the whole shit: I could totally get use to this.

I drew Raph, Mikey, Donnie, and Leos Shells. At First i was trying to drawl raph but I failed so I just drew there Shells

Come join me on magma!! wiggles eyebrows

Untitled Drawing | Magma

Untitled Drawing | Magma

Create, brainstorm and collaborate on a shared canvas in real-time

Pssst mama-

Could you make my mans

I'll give you wine

⚡️favorite kid

HI MY BABY!!

Also blu, I know this is you-

HERES YOUR HUBBY!! I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

"Rottmnt! Leo x Fem! Winged Reader"

....

..

.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♡~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leo sighed and walked through his newly opened portal. 'Man...I really hate doing patrols...', Leo thought to himself as he plopped down on his bed.

Scrambling around on his bed, he sighed softly. "....I really wish my girlfriend was here...", Leo said to himself as he pouted and buried his face in his pillow.

...

.....

........

.....

...

"WAIT A MINUTE!!", Leo yelled out loud and got back up. Running to his bed side table, he grabbed his ōdachi and swung it around to create a new portal.

Peaking his head through, Leo looked around and saw Y/n's room. Softly cheering to himself, he walked through it and winced at what time it was.

"Euughh booyyy....Y/n is not gonna be happy about this one...!", Leo said as he looked at the analog clock and towards the bed, holding the sleeping Y/n.

Y/n groaned in her sleep softly as she turned over, her arm falling off the side of the bed. Leo's eyes softened and his pupils widened, his plastron starting to slightly rumble as he churred.

Leo went over to the bed and grabbed her hand, placing his face in it as his churrs get louder and he rubs into her hand.

He let go of her hand and placed it beside her head. He then got up and clambered over her, he avoided her spread out wings and laid behind her. Leo moved towards her and nuzzled into her back, in between her shoulder blades.

His churring got louder and he held Y/n tighter.

HUZZAH! P.O.V. CHANGE MF!

Y/n woke with a groan, trying to stretch but found she couldn't. "...Wha...Huh...? Why can't I...?", Y/n asked to herself softly.

She looked down and saw....LEO?!? What was Leo doing here?? When did he get here?..And was he...nuzzling her in his sleep?

"Leo...? What..?", Y/n asked as Leo buried his snout into the crook of her neck. Y/n smiled softly and closed her eyes once more. As she gently wrapped both her arms and wings around him, she sighed softly and grabbed the cover.

As she covered them up and slowly fell back asleep, she could feel him vibrating and his tail wagging as he churred. She let out a small giggle and finally fell back asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♡~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just wanted to write a lil smth before goin' back to doing my requests lol

Hope you guys like it and enjoy! And as always, have a wonderful day or night.

~Alex

Comfort and Confession | Rise!Leo X F!Reader

A/N: This is my earliest one-shot on Tumblr, and I’ve decided to dedicate that to Leonardo from Rise of TMNT. He’s my favorite character due to his charismatic personality. 

Also, I included some Spanish at the end, but due to a lack of knowledge in that language, I resorted to Google Translate. Anyone with experience in Spanish please inform me if I made a mistake.

Enjoy yourself!

Rise! Leo X Female! Reader (One-Shot)

Word Count: ~2600

You were quietly seated at your study desk, your mechanical pencil maneuvering over your sheet of algebra homework. Your senior year would soon be coming to an end, and yet, your days kept getting overfilled with responsibilities. Not to mention your scholarships and university applications.

Headphones snuggled over your ears, you sighed, holding your chin up with your hand. The shuffled playlist of songs made your silence bearable, even against the loud streets of New York City during the late evening.

Nothing changed out there.

And here you were, feeling your own life about to flip over.

You tapped your pencil rapidly. You tried to shove away those questions, but they seeped in anyway. Have you done enough? Have you made the most of everything? Have you spent enough time with your friends? Soon, your grades wouldn’t be your worry anymore, but your career.

It scared you.

How you could never relax. Let yourself vulnerable.

You were quite popular among your peers: persistent, open-minded, and had always tried to maintain top-quality work. You should be happy, but you ended up being haunted by a fear of slipping up. People say they wouldn’t care, but is it really the case? You had underclassmen looking up to you, friends who admired you, so who’s to say they wouldn’t turn you away once you disappoint them?

Oh, how you could never settle down.

The hues of your eyes gazed out the window, which perfectly hung right by your desk. Your face looked solemn, scanning over the street lights hanging around your neighborhood. Then, you shook your head and took off your headphones, worried that you might have grown distracted. Your music playlist paused.

The mechanical pencil flickered around in your hand, while you turned to read the ninth unit of your AP Chemistry textbook. 

. . .

Tap Tap.

You smiled. Must be the rain. It should’ve been hot outside. Then again, rainfall comes often when you’re by the sea and the temperature’s high.

You felt a bit glad though. Rain had a therapeutic effect on your mind.

There was a pause.

You hummed. Well, that was a quick sprinkle. 

Tap Tap.

Now, the sound puzzled you. What kind of rain paused like that? 

You turned your chair, going to check the weather. Except, your body practically jumped for a second and lost your grasp of the pencil. In that split moment, you knew exactly where– or who– the sound came from. A figure tapped onto your window, waiting to be let in. Your heart still raced under your shocked breaths.

You ran a hand through your hair, trying to laugh your way to being calm again.

“Oh my God.” 

You recognized the person– turtle– who came by occasionally to bother you out of their boredom. He wore an electric-blue mask and adorn in his iconic red markings. He rubbed his nape, cheekily smiling. 

“Leon.” You lifted your window up for an opening. “You scared me. I thought it was some random homeless guy. Or some delinquent trailing me from school. You–. Please give me a heads up next time! You literally have a phone!”

Unfazed, Leonardo waved his hands. “Okay, okay. Relax, Cariña.” He grinned. “You have nothing to worry about! Anyone who tries to come after you will have to mess with me. And who’d be dumb enough to fight a guy like me anyway– did you say someone was following you?”

“Some underclassman, but one of my guy friends usually handles him.” You shrugged.

“I can handle him, (Name)! You could’ve called me!”

“You’re forgetting something, Leo.” You pointed your finger from down to up his figure. “You’re a turtle. I don’t know how well NYC’s gonna take you. Once someone sees you, you’re plastered all over the news.”

He huffed, making himself comfortable on your bed. His katanas laid on the floor. Hands behind his head, Leonardo shut his eyes. “Y’know, having my handsome face across billboards doesn’t sound so bad.”

You snorted. “I wouldn’t exactly say you’re ‘handsome.’”

His grin faltered. Ouch.

“Say whatever you want, Cariña.” He puffed out. “So? Gonna tell me whatcha up to, (Name)? Let me guess: homework here, homework there.” He wagged his feet as he went on.

“Pretty much.” You winced, not expecting your voice to be so strained. “Nothing really changes when you’re a student about to enter the ‘adult’ world.” You curled your fingers in quotations. Leo opened one of his eyes. The lightheartedness he had dropped when he noticed you pursing your lips. You seemed out of it. “Just more responsibilities coming my way. And I thought I’m already having it hard.”

“(Name).”

Leonardo sat up. He extended his palm to yours. His scaly yet gentle touch comforted you. Low-key, he caught you off-guard by how genuine he can be instead of teasing or joking around. You returned a weak smile, rubbing his hand with your thumb.

“Hey. Y’know I’m here to listen. I’m all ears.” He immediately rubbed his nape. He averted his gaze and whistled, “Okay, Leo, weird of you to say when you don’t have any ears– but you get the point.”

You took a deep breath.

Your spare hand twiddled with the hem of your top.

“You remember how I met you and your brothers as a high-school junior, right? Like by accident. Then some time of hanging out and fighting the Foot Clan passed, you guys and April accepted me.

Even when being so different in our personalities and standards, I guess we bonded well. I’ve always appreciated our friendship, because no one there tries to expect anything out of me. Like you guys only cared if I spend time. Although, you are all really goofy to be picky about a friend anyway.”

Leo snorted.

“Except, this year, I’m a senior.” A frown tugged on your lips, and your twiddling hand crept to hold Leo’s other. “The final stage of high school before moving on to college... Even if I attend a school close to here, I’ll be so occupied with my classes, I won’t have any time to spend with you like we normally do. I’ve put in so much effort to focus on my studies. I’m scared to disappoint my family and everyone, but that means I have to give up seeing you guys too.”

Your voice began to break. Your hands retreated and buried your face. The stress of your situation dawned on you.

The thought of you leaving almost stabbed his heart. He clenched his hands. “Hey.” he shook your shoulders. “Enough of that. Don’t get yourself down in the dumps. So what if you don’t come ‘round anymore? You don’t have to be the one to visit us, (Name).” 

Leonardo pulled your hands away from your face, meeting your eyes again. 

“I mean, my brothers and I are ninja turtles, (Name)! April even handled the Foot Clan on her own. If we could do that, busy or not, you bet we’ll trespass the school for you,” he declared, standing up tall with his arms crossed over his plastron.

He seemed a bit too serious with that one.

“Woah, hold on there, Leon,” you laughed, tugging his arms to stop him from continuing. “You’re overlooking a few things, again. Roommates are a thing.” You counted on your fingers. “And would April and your brothers even agree to this? You guys are risking your identities, and April, her journalism career if an officer comes by.”

“No worries.” He tossed the ends of his mask behind, as if flipping his locks of hair. “As the ‘Face’ of Mad Dogs, with my charming personality and for the sake of you, my brothers and sister will never turn down my idea. And since we have Donnie, our plans are unstoppable. We can meet whenever, wherever, s’long as you’re up for it.”

He held his palm out, this time, asking for yours. “So what do you say?”

You stared into his eyes. His sly and devious grin, his charismatic persona, and his oddly-effective methods of reassurance. No wonder you would let yourself fall too long for him.

Your fingers wiped off the trailing tears that linger by your hues, and you leapt off of your chair to embrace Leo to your bed in a hug. Face snuggled into his shoulder while your fingers played with the ends of his blue mask. “Of course.” The red-eared slider tensed– you could tell. Though it wasn’t long until Leonardo loosened up, returning the contact by sliding his arms over your waist. It remained that way for a while, feeling each other’s body rise and fall between each breath.

“Mind if I show you something?” Leonardo whispered.

A soft chuckle left your lips. “Sure.”

“We’re probably gonna have to climb to the top of the apartment, though.”

Now, you tensed up. You could feel your palms become sweaty. You grumbled, “Leonardo–.” “Come on, I’ll hold your hand as we go; you’re not gonna fall,” he promised.

“Even with the fire escapes, you can’t expect me to trust them with how rusty they’ve gotten over the four years of living here. We’re five stories high!”

“Just trust me, (Name).”

You rubbed your palms onto your clothes, drying away the blood-rushing feeling in them. An hesitant smile appeared on your face. “All right. Fine, I’ll go.”

“You won’t regret it, Princesa.”

You shoved his shoulder lightly. Your ears flushed. 

“Please don’t.”

You and Leonardo ducked underneath the window toward the fire escape. At such a height of meters over the bustling streets, your heart rate began to speed up. But like the turtle promised, Leonardo took your hand firmly and guided you up. Your vision quickly adapted to the darkness, so you noticed there was actually– barely any rust on the escape. You could assume the metal had been galvanized. 

At least you could confirm that there’s a lower chance of the escape breaking apart. 

You narrowed your eyes. But never zero.

“All the way to the top, Leon?” Your voice held hesitation. 

“We’re close, (Name). You got this. Just keep holding onto my hand.”

The creaking of the ladder continued, until the two of you finally made it to the apartment roof. You heaved a loud sigh, relieved nothing went wrong. You dusted off your hands. “So, what exactly would this ‘something’ be, Leo?”

The red-eared slider grinned. Placing his hands on your shoulders, he turned you around to face the city. 

And your breath left. 

Your eyes practically glittered.

From that height, the city looked more enchanting. All those vehicles and voices sounded more quiet. So much so, the one thing you could hear were the cool breezes. You walked over and leaned by the edge, taking in the landscape. The mutant held his hand on your waist, making sure you won’t get caught up in the sightseeing.

“Leo.” You sighed in awe. “The view’s so beautiful.” Glancing between him and the scenery, you remarked, “You see this every night, running and hanging on those rooftops? I’ve never gone this high up during the night. And now, I wish I could do this all those nights ago.”

Leonardo only hummed. His hand held his chin, eyes closed, as if he was thinking of something else. You called to him. “Is something up? Do you have to go somewhere?” Your heart almost fell at the idea.

He opened his one eye, before huffing lightheartedly. “No, nothing’s wrong. There’s something–. I swear it should be here–.” Then, he whipped his head up. “Oh-ho! There we go! About time!”

“Huh?” Your eyes gazed up to the sky, covered in layers of clouds. From what you could tell, those clouds were heavy.

Pit. Pat.

Pit. Pat.

Pitter. Patter.

You felt something cold touch your head. It dripped down your face. “Raindrops,” you realized and faced Leonardo, strolling back to your side with a pleased smile. “You were expecting rainfall?”

The red-eared slider sat down by the edge, letting his legs dangle off. He patted the space next to him, meeting your eyes as he did. 

You remembered the height of this building. 

Being cautious, you hesitated. But after months of interaction with someone who’d helped save the city countless times– despite the idea most humans likely wouldn’t treat him back too kindly– you had always put your trust in him. 

“Sí, Cariña,” Leonardo responded. “What would be a better, relaxing day than some rain in New York City~?”

You raised an eyebrow. “I never realized you’re a rainy-day type of guy, Leon. I thought you’d prefer the sun... I mean, sunny weather feels more like your personality after all.” Your contented mood died down, when you found the turtle turning his head away. You quickly felt troubled.

“..Have I said something wrong–?”

“What? N-No, nothing like that.” Leonardo shook his head as he waved his hands. The silence caught up again, so you decided to continue speaking. “You know, Leon. Rain being part of your ‘something’ for me is really a coincidence, because–.”

“I overheard you.”

“I... I’m sorry?”

The red-eared slider felt his blood rushing and heart beating quick. He should be comfortable expressing his feelings. He was supposed to be overly confident! That daring kind of guy! That one mutant with the audacity– as Donnie often reprimanded him. But the embarrassment he felt here was high.

“When you were hanging out with April and Sunita that one time, I... might have or might-have-not overheard you say how much you like rainy weather.” Leonardo rubbed his nape with his clammy hands. His blush was becoming more apparent– even under thick clouds that covered the moonlight. 

“And since Donnie has a weather forecast that predicted a 70% chance of rain, I thought today would be a perfect day to show you the city lights.” His words slowly died into a sheepish mumble.

You were stunned. Your face couldn’t hold back the light blush either. “That was so long ago, I can’t believe you even remembered that.”

You pursed your lips and told him straight on. “I really appreciate it, Leon.”

Anything for you. Leonardo felt his heart flutter inside. “Yeah. O-Of course. I mean, you’re not wrong: I prefer the sunny days and all. Doesn’t mean I don’t mean it when I say rainy days are chill. Never thought I’d feel any more unwinded until today.” He brought his knees close to his plastron.

Soft winds blew. The sprinkling rain pitter-pattered. You could confirm: they were all reasons why you found rainfall soothing. “So,” Leon murmured, “You have any idea on where exactly you’re gonna go past graduation?”

Your face faltered, slowly looking back overhead the city. “Not sure. I could go to the one in Massachusetts to pursue my studies in a high-class school, or stay in New York. I hope to stay as close to here as I can, to be honest. Close to you and everyone: Raph, Donnie, Mikey, April; Casey and Splinter too.”

“You know Mikey’s gonna miss you treating him so well.” Leonardo rolled his eyes and scoffed. You snickered and spoke with the most annoying voice you could conjure up, “Aww. But he’s so precious, how can I not resist giving him special treatment?”

“Youngest child privilege,” he grumbled.

“Thought you love your little brother, Leon~?”

“Woah-woah. Hey now, Cariña, don’t get me wrong. I’ll always love my brothers when they’re not abusing their benefits,” he defended. “Speaking of which, how come I get any?”

You couldn’t tell if your forehead was sweating, or if they were only raindrops. Either way, you sensed some blood rushing to your face. You playfully crossed your arms. “Oh come on, I-I can’t answer that.”

“I’m being serious, (Name)! Let me count my hermanos off.” Leonardo extended all three fingers. “One, you treat Mikey like a mother to a kid. ‘He’s a teenager?’ My point’s still kind of there. Two, you buy a bunch of snacks for Raph whenever you visit. Low-key, I think he’s getting obsessed with shrimp chips. Three, you occasionally have Donnie to tutor you!”

You stopped him. “I wouldn’t even consider that last one a benefit, Leo.”

“Trust me on this one, (Name). As his brother, I know he loves it when he gets the chance to– in his words– ‘share his intellect.’” Leonardo did the bunny-quotes. “But what about me? I’m not looking for any favors– not trying to be that guy. I’m just trying to understand if I did anything wrong to be treated any differently from my brothers.”

You would have continued to tease him, thinking nothing serious of it. However, his fallen shoulders and pained expression told you otherwise.

You fell silent. 

You began, slowly moving your hand toward his, “Leo... I’m sorry, I can assure you you haven’t done anything wrong to upset me.”

“Then, what is–?”

Pit pat, pit pat, pit pat.

Plop, plop plop, plop plop plop.

As more sounds reached your ears, you cursed. “Oh my God. They’re getting heavier. I shouldn’t get sick for tomorrow’s assembly!” You leaned over the fire escape, stopped upon the height, and glanced toward the red-eared slider. 

“L-Leon–.”

“Don’t worry.. I’m here.”

The rainfall became dense. Leonardo held your hand all the way until you two reached your apartment window, where the water had condensed onto the glass, and where some of it fell into your bedroom.

You quickly grabbed two towels from the bathroom, drying any water off your head and on the floor. Walking back to the opening, where Leon waited, you picked up the turtle’s twin swords, knowing he’d have to leave soon. “I hope it won’t be too cold for you to handle out there, Leon.” You handed his weapon.

He shrugged. “Eh... What’s a bit of rain going to do to a mutant turtle living in the sewers? Don’t forget, I got Lou Jitsu’s blood in me too.” He winked. “‘The cold never bothers me anyway.’”

You huffed lightly. “Stay safe.”

“Will do.” Right as Leonardo was about to leave, by instinct, you took your chance and suddenly grabbed his hand, holding him back. The red-eared slider– with wide eyes– gazed down at you, confused yet expectantly.

“I.. I never answered that other question.”

Leonardo’s shoulders slumped. “Forget it.” He waved off. “You said you couldn’t tell me... I shouldn’t be begging you to spill anything personal.”

“No, not like–.” You sighed. “Just come here.”

Leonardo leaned down near the window, concerned. But then, your hand reached out through, fingertips tracing along his jaw, caressing his skin. Your intentionally slow pace gave him enough time to process this moment.

Your red-eared slider leaned right into your touch, and he gulped. His face bringing out a light blush. The very charismatic and overly confident mutant melted under your hold. You moved him closer and closer. Your hues locked in contact, before you both slowly shut them.

The tiny space between your lips gone as you crashed into a kiss.

“Mmm.” His shoulders visibly relaxed. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer, as he did around your waist. The heat on your face not going away. Leo’s hands trailed down and gripped your thighs, while you went on playing with the ends of his mask.

After what felt like a minute, you both broke from the kiss, panting softly. Those breaths can be seen against the cold.

“Eres buena para tu primer beso, Cariña~.”

“Como si tuvieras alguna experiencia con los besos, Cariño~.” You used your finger to close his gaping mouth. 

“H-Hold on, you speak Spanish–?”

“High school requires at least two years of a foreign language.” You kissed his neck. “Next time we get a rainy night, you wanna climb up the roof again?”

Listen | F!Reader Insert

A/N: When the movie trailer dropped, I knew there are many opportunities for angsty fan fiction, so I kind of took one. Some of the dialogue is canon, everything else is from my imagination. Anyway, getting the characters’ "character” was a challenge. I’ll appreciate any constructive criticism to improve it. Enjoy!

Summary: Casey Jones is trying to warn them of their future.

Pairing(s): Rise! Leo X Reader (Established Relationship)

Reader: Feminine pronouns are used. No actual appearance, only mentions.

Genre: Humor / Slight Angst

Warning(s): Rushed writing. Written before release. Mentioned character death.

Word Count: ~840

~

“So what’s your business with our friend, pal?”

Casey slowly opened his eyes, groaning through the headache. The world seemed upside-down, but judging from the ropes tying his body to a chair, he got the memo. So he was knocked out and taken into the underground subway station. The human boy grimaced; the stench reeked here.

In front of him stood four mutant turtles, in addition to the presence of a sewer rat and another human. “Master.. Leonardo?” Casey murmured as he recognized the blue eye-mask and red markings.

“Hey, did you hear that?” Mikey gasped. “He knows your name!”

Leon smirked. “And he added a nice ring to it, too.”

“So Blue does mature after all.” Splinter scratched his fur.

“Great,” Donnie rolled his eyes. “Thank you for inflating his ego.”

“Guys, come on now—,” Raph began.

“Shh. Give a minute, hermanos, I’ve got a plan.” Leon announced with confidence.

All the voices blurred. Casey glanced around groggily, only to realize there was one person missing from the group. “(Name).... Urgh…. Where’s.. where’s (Name)?”

The group quieted down.

“Oho, skipping the introductions, are we?” Leon narrowed his eyes. He stepped closer to the human boy. “You got something against her too? …I’d let it go if I were you,” he threatened.

“This is what happens when random people jump straight to asking about his girlfriend before doing introductions,” Donnie remarked. Casey panicked under Leon’s glare, especially once he saw Leon pull out his katana. “Hey, hey!” Casey shook fervently. “Hold on a minute! It’s not—.”

“My hermanos, what do you think we should do with him?” The turtle pointed with the tip of his blade.

“Ooh, ooh!” Mikey raised his hand. “Give him a nasty haircut!”

Raph thrusted his fist forward. “We could use a nice punching bag.”

“Or here’s a better idea,” Donnie pulled down his goggles, doing a quick analysis of Casey, “how about I alter his brain, so we can remote-control him?”

“Pfft. Think we’ve scared him enough, boys.” April clapped her hands, making them drop the act and fall into laughter. Raph was snickering in back, seeing Casey all pale and shaken up. “Oh man, that was good.”

“Okay, okay, okay.” Leon wiped a tear. “In all seriousness, who are you, ‘cause we need to call you something other than— I don’t know, human guy?”

“...The name’s Casey Jones—.”

“Hold up, Jones as in Cassandra Jones? Never knew she has a brother,” April asked.

“Son,” he grumbled. God, how many times would they be interrupting him? “I’m her son.”

“Guys, I think he’s gone insane,” Donnie remarked.

“Careful, Don,” Mikey hushed. “Maybe he’s got trauma, and was put up with his sister being the mother role.”

Leon scratched his chin. “Seriously? Casey— I mean, Cassandra here— acting like anyone close to a mother?”

“For the record, I’m not insane!”

“Then, explain how you might be Cassandra’s son, when you’re just about her age.”

“Woah, Donnie, don’t tell me—.”

“That I took DNA samples from his teeth while he were knocked out? Why yes, yes I did.”

Casey shook in the air, which only had the rope swinging him from side to side. “Listen! You want to know how I’m her son? Simple answer is: I’m not from your time.”

“Huh?”

“...Is this going where I think it is?” Donnie covered his own mouth with his hand.

“I know how this sounds,” Casey cautioned. “But I need you to believe me, because I’m from… the future.”

…

Once again, everyone bursted out into laughter. In fact, even Splinter was amused.

“Y-you cannot be serious!” Donnie crouched over, dying. “That’s not possible!”

“Look, person named Casey,” Raph wiped another tear, “no offense, but if you’re trying to scare us, I can assure you you’ve got better things to do.”

“No! I’m trying to warn you guys about the future!”

“Right,” Leon rolled his eyes playfully. “And uh… how do we know whether we should take your word for it?”  

“Because if you won’t do something about this,” Casey’s face contorted in anger, “(NAME) IS GOING TO DIE!”

Noise slipped into immediate silence. Everyone stopped, eyes wide.

“Woah, woah,” Raph’s tone lowered, “You crossed the line there, pal.” The snapping turtle looked to his red-eared brother in concern. He found Leon clenching his hands and narrowing his eyes. “Yeah. There are other ways to get us to listen, y’know.”

“But you wouldn’t listen! And I’m not lying when I—!”

“Then, what are you talking about?!”

“Fine. Let’s start over.” Casey sighed, “My name is Casey Jones. In the future, an alien race by the name of Kraang decimated the planet. Master Leonardo gave me a mission: find the key and stop them.

When I arrived, I couldn’t recognize the place at all. Seeing Commander O’Neil, I thought she could the best person to start with.”

“What’s (Name) got to do here?” Donnie questioned.

“She—.” Casey hesitated, meeting Leon’s eyes. The red-eared slider crossed his arms. “Say it.”

“…She was killed trying to save Master Leonardo.”

Before You Go | Future Leo X GN!Reader (Part I)

A/N: Time to make a series! Inspiration is taken from the movie and several fanart. Constructive criticism is appreciated as usual.

Summary: Heartbroken about a death of a dear friend, you and Leonardo debated on whether to co-parent Cassandra’s baby son, Casey.

Reader: Gender-neutral pronouns are used. Second POV.

Pairing: Rise! Future! Leonardo X Reader 

Warnings: Blood. Death. Child becoming an orphan.

Word Count: ~1280

Parts: One / Two / Three / Four / Five / ...

~

“We’re.. keeping him?”

A wary expression on your face as you met eye-contact with Leonardo. In his arms held a baby boy, wrapped in a soft yet dirty blanket. 

“We are,” he confirmed. 

“But what about the other camps—.”

“I promised Cass we would take care of him.”

You went silent, wincing at the thought— the memory of your friend dying in that rubble. Leonardo shared the same feeling, replaying Cassandra’s final words in his head.

“You didn’t even ask me for my word!” you snapped. “We’re talking about taking care of a baby in an alien invasion! I want neither of us nor the team to get too attached. He’s going to get in the way and if something happens—.”

“We won’t let anything happen to him.”

Your hands curled. “...How can you be so sure?”

“(Name).” Leonardo stepped closer to you. “Think about it this way: he could be a hope for us. He could be the one to stop the Kraang and this mess.”

“No.” You wanted to yell and force him to look from your view. Except, you can’t risk scaring anyone else in the base. There were other humans, mutants, and yōkai taking refuge to hide from the Kraang.

This was one of the only safe havens in New York City, or the entire world at that rate. You wanted this to be a place of consolation, not panic.

Arms crossed, you turned away. “I was afraid you’d think that.”

“...What do you mean?”

“He’s young, Leo!” You faced him again. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about forcing the idea of ‘being the chosen hero’ on him!

What if he doesn’t rise to that challenge? What if he didn’t succeed? What would you think of him then?”

Leo’s mouth perked up.

And you realized yourself.

“Sounds like you’re the one with a personal attachment, (Name). I almost thought you don’t care about this little guy,” he teased. “I wasn’t being serious about the whole ‘hero’ thing. Splints threw me on the leader spot myself, remember?”

Your shoulders loosened. 

“I remember.” You sighed. “I never said I don’t care. Just worried we won’t be able to give him the childhood he deserves— the life he deserves. I wish that for every child, especially knowing this is the wrong place for them to grow up in.”

You grimmed. “We’ll be busy trying to take out Kraang, Leo.. How are we going to take care him, let alone give him enough love?”

Leo gave no response. But you watched his feet inching closer. Then, he held out the blanket-wrapped baby to you.

“..We’ll find a way,” he assured, “We’ll work it out together.”

You took the baby in your arms. He was snoring away all the problems, a bittersweet moment that warmed your heart.

“The others are going to co-parent too, right?” you asked. That one question making Leo freeze. You spoke again, this time raising an eyebrow. “..Right?”

He cleared his throat. “Well.. the thing is.. they.. probably don’t even know how to take care of a baby.”

“What.”

“But we’ll be fine on our ownn! Trust me, (Name), nothing’s going to go wrong under our watch.”

“And then you’re going to force all the parental responsibility on me.” You scoffed. “Are you serious? You had me thinking that Raph, Mikey, Donnie, and April will help too!”

“Cass trusted us to do this.”

“Exactly, us.”

“The both of us.”

“Why did she exclude the others out?”

Truth be told, you couldn’t understand what made his brothers and April any less qualified to take care of a baby. You knew Leo would be out a lot. You too had responsibilities with keeping resources in check and defending the base. Extra loving hands shouldn’t hurt.

Except, when you found Leo averting his gaze and coughing, a light blush on his face, it clicked for you. He wasn’t being completely serious. He just liked the thought of he and you— did Cassandra tell him?

A chuckle left your lips. 

“Look, as much as I’m willing to try for her,” you paused, “I don’t know if I can make a good caretaker, let alone a parent for Casey.” 

“And Cass knew you’d doubt yourself,” Leo held your hands, “but she still trusted you. She trusted that you can do it.”

You took a deep breath, tearing up a bit. 

“There.. are a lot of responsibilities....”

His arms brought you into a hug from behind. “I know.” 

He leaned his head on your shoulder, watching little Casey sleep. “Like I said though, (Name), we will make it work.” Leo reassured. “I’m here right next to you.”

Him being made leader changed him for sure. It was comforting to see him grow less cocky and more consoling, empathetic.

You kind of missed his overconfident, happy, sarcastic side though. 

.

.

.

“What are you doing?” A shaky breath. “We’re running the same way. Why are you handing him to me, Cass?” Leonardo felt his heart beating faster.

“Take care of him for me. He needs you all, especially (Name).”

“H-Hold on..” Leonardo taken aback.

He watched a couple of tears pooling up in Cassandra’s eyes. Her hand grasping his arm as they both ran for base.

“Y-You know (Name)’s been eyeing me for a while now.” Emotions caught up in her throat as she spoke. “They’ve always wanted a kid— I didn’t even have to ask them. So.. I-I thought that if I’m ever gone, Casey can be the one for them. (Name) can be the one who will love him just as much as I do.”

“What are you talking about—?!” Leonardo’s breath hitched when the woman let go and ran behind him. 

“Please tell ‘em that for me.. before I go..”

“CASSANDRA!”

“They’re just gonna keep following us if something isn’t done. I have to go distract them!”

You stopped in your tracks the moment you found your best friend turning the other direction. The baby gone from her arms and in Leonardo’s instead.

“Casey? Casey!” you shouted. “Where the hell are you going!?”

She was running towards one of the giant machines. A large rock into the eye with her hockey stick and a loud BOOM blasted from an ignition.

You immediately sprinted after her. “Casey! CASEY, STOP!”

“(NAME)!” Leonardo followed. 

Cassandra caught the attention of other nearby mechs, this time using her hyperbeam gun to strike. 

You were starting to lose your distance.

“Please! I don’t want to lose you—!” Leonardo yanked you back with his other arm. This was when you felt your eyes burning. This couldn’t be happening, not when you weren’t prepared to lose someone.

Leonardo kept a tight grip on your arm. “(Name)! We have to go back!”

“Casey’s out there! Let go of me—!”

“Yet you’re out here— I’m not gonna lose you too while we’re at it. Listen to me: we have to go back, or you’re putting everyone else at risk. We have to go NOW.”

You took one final glance at Cassandra, so far away. 

Suddenly, a bright beam of light shot down on her ground. You watched the dark silhouette in your sight evaporated.

And you screamed.

Leonardo pulled you into his chest, hand over your mouth. He carried you over his shoulder as you sobbed into your own palms. He fled, fled as fast as he could with stinging eyes, not because of the dust this time.

No one back at the base could’ve prepared to see you and Leonardo return with Cassandra’s baby alone. 

That ache hurt more when you found a photograph of her and everyone tucked in little Casey’s blanket. 

Before You Go | Future Leo X GN!Reader (Part II)

A/N: Constuctive criticism is appreciated.

Summary: You’re both adopting-parents of Casey. Leonardo was all exhausted from handling a flustered Casey.

Reader: Gender-neutral pronouns are used. Second POV.

Pairing: Rise! Future! Leonardo X Reader

Warning(s): None.

Word Count: ~1140

Parts: One / Two / Three / Four / Five / ...

~

"Argh.." 

Leonardo heaved when the baby in his arms continued to cry. The headaches from his last time dealing with Casey returned. "Come on now, tell me what is it.."

He gave him what he could offer: the attempt to feed the boy, pat his back to release any gas, and even spin him around for trial-and-error’s sake. Yet for a long while, Leo hadn’t been able to stop those tears.

And already were there other worries in mind.

He muttered, "Don't you embarrass me in front of (Name).. or anyone else for that matter.." 

Out of nowhere, Casey cried much louder and thrashed around in Leo’s arms. His eyes widened upon the commotion. The turtle hushed. “Hey hey! Calm down a bit.. Everything’s alright."

God, how hypocritical.

He had dark circles underneath his eyes, half-lidded from lack of sleep and much worry. He dragged his palm across his face and muttered, "God, what was the song they sang to those kids..?"

Leo promised you this time, he would take care of the baby, while you would be busy gathering food and patrolling. It was practically switching shifts, but you seemed a bit too excited about it. The problem? Well.. he understood why and realized he'd probably have an easier time dealing with kids much older than two years old.

"If you're not hungry, or lonely, or—." He grimaced and groaned. "Ohh man.. don't tell me it's about the diaper—."

"I changed it when you went to take a quick breather outside," you spoke.

Leo jumped. Tired eyes widening again. “(Name)! What are you— you shouldn’t be back so soon. I had....” He yawned. “I had everything under control.”

You raised an eyebrow.

He was exhausted. It was obvious. 

Even then, you played along. He was the one who suggested for you to take that day out after all. He wanted to spend time with Casey too. And you wouldn’t dare discourage Leo like that.

“I know, I know. Sometimes, it doesn’t hurt for the either of us to check in though.” You gave him a peck. “Besides, you haven’t gotten enough sleep lately.”

He grunted. “I’m fine. A little less sleep’s not gonna kill me.”

“It tells me something when you chose to leave Casey in Donnie’s hands while you were away for a second.”

“Y-You were here when that happened too?”

Leonardo cleared his throat. "No, no. Everything's under control, (Name)," he proclaimed, lying through his teeth. "Casey and I are doing just fine..!" 

Unfortunately, the baby's teary expression said the complete opposite.

"You're having trouble with him, aren't you?"

He scoffed. "Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Did you get the sack of potatoes from Todd?"

"Yeah." You deadpanned. "I did. They’re gonna get sick of eating them, but we don’t have much of an option— don't go changing the subject on me! Leo, you look dead! You didn’t even get some rest before taking on Casey!”

Leo huffed. “Why are you making him sound like some video game boss?”

“Let’s get you some sleep.” You tugged him towards a small dugout. It was supposed to be your bedroom, but seeing how much had collasped in this underground base from battles, it wasn’t nice nor clean.

“No, I can’t sleep.. I can’t—.”

You took the baby from his arms, and while he was confused, shoved him onto a shaped pile of dirt called a bed. Face on the “mattress” and a long sigh out.

Leo gave in.

“Okay.. okay. You win, (Name).”

“Good, you can stay here for an hour and I’ll—.” You yelped when his arms wrapped around you and yanked you back onto the bed with him. “Leo!” Casey started to giggle.

The turtle froze.

“Agh! So all this time he was crying for no reason?!”

“I told you before that babies can be dramatic!”

“I didn’t think he’d be dramatic enough to cry,” Leo scoffed. “He was loud at that too.” His arms went to cover his eyes, facing the ceiling.

“The experience was much different than you realize, huh?” you murmured, laying your head next to his. Casey still in your arms, biting on them.

“..I thought I could do it.”

“Hm? But you were already doing it. You kept track of feeding him, releasing his gas, playing with him.. You considered changing his diaper too.. They’re all exactly what you needed to do for him.”

“But you took care of it in the end, as always.”

“..Took care of what?”

“He was crying just now, (Name). Don’t try to pretend like it didn’t happen.. I know I’m not the best father-figure to him.”

“Seriously?” you chuckled. “That was you too. He didn’t stop having that upset look on his face until you pulled me down. He.. probably enjoys surprises.”

“..Huh.. now you mentioned it..”

You sat up, turning your face to Leo. Your hand trailed along his jawline.

“Where’s the overconfident guy I know and love?” you hummed. “It’s not like you to put yourself down like that. You trying your best makes you the best father to Casey.”

Leo’s eyes gazed up at you.

“You’ve helped me a lot by covering a turn for him.”

“(Name), please. Whenever it’s my turn, things always get messy.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Leon.”

“..What?”

“You never noticed your pattern of taking Casey out of my hands before you get some rest? We do these switches after your patrol too.”

His mind clicked.

“..Ohh.”

You scoffed. “Yeah. You always look dead when I come back from my trip outside.” 

.

.

.

You stared at his lying form. Your fingers creeped underneath his head to signal him, and Leo adjusted. His head resting on your thighs.

“Leo,” you whispered. “Do you love me?”

Breath hitched. “When have I not?” he responded in a groggy voice. “..Why do you ask?”

“Do you love Casey?”

Said-boy babbled upon hearing some familiar syllables. He gave a soft kick on Leo’s arm, while playing with your fingers.

“...Even though he’s kind of exhausting, I’d give the world to the little guy.” He smiled, remembering the small moments when Casey would crawl over to his large feet and hand him a dead bird. “..Why?”

“Because you can’t help the both of us if you can’t help yourself.”

Hand trailing Leo’s jawline again. You spoke softly, “I don’t want you to kill yourself. Losing sleep is only going to do that, and I can’t risk losing you.

So promise me.. you’ll take care of yourself.”

“...I promise.” Leo slowly shut his eyes.

“...(Name)?”

“Hm?”

“Can you.. Remember that lullaby?”

“The one to the kids at the orphanage?”

“Yeah.. can I hear you.. sing it again?”

.

.

.

That night.. was one of the few when everyone managed to sleep without being woken up by a baby’s cries.

Before You Go | Future Leo X GN!Reader (Part III)

A/N: I am conflicted over using gender-neutral terms to replace “Mama,” because I haven’t found a single one that holds the same vibe as the initial. If there are any suggestions, let me know! Remember that constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Summary: You’re both adopting-parents of Casey. Leonardo returned from a patrol to find his family surrounding Casey, about to say his first words.

Reader: Gender-neutral pronouns are used, except the terms “Mama” and “mother-figure are used as well. Second POV.

Pairing: Rise! Future! Leonardo X Reader

Warning(s): Insecure of one’s parenting.

Word Count: ~1980

Parts: One / Two / Three / Four / Five / ...

~

“No way, is Casey saying his first words?” Michelangelo gasped. He was followed by his older brother, coming back from an area patrol together. 

That question stopped Leo in his tracks. "H-Hold on, really?"

In front of him, April and his brothers surrounded you, while you sat 2-year-old Casey on your stronger arm. He glanced around curiously at the small crowd, but paid no mind as he played with your hair.

"Bwuah.. bah." Sounds bubbling from his mouth. You smiled. "I have a good feeling, Mikey."

Leo stared from afar. 

..It had been so long since he felt this kind of warmth. All the smiles on his family’s faces were enough to give nostalgia.. back to when life was relatively.. normal.

"What'cha doing, standing over there!" April called out, waving her arm up. "This is a moment of a lifetime! Don't tell me you're backing out of being a parent." Donnie snickered from hearing her teases.

Leo shook his head. Then, he rolled his eyes. "Hey hey, c'mon, don't put me down like that, April. I'm not some deadbeat guy."

Being the Doctor Feelings he once proclaimed, Mikey held his hands to his chest. A bubbly smile grew. "Ohh! I’m getting it now: Lee’s having his inner, emotional, father-moment!"

And of course, a dark blush appeared on his face, embarrassed he was figured out so easily. Granted, he was talking about his own brother and Doctor Feelings. "Yeah yeah, whatever you say, little brother," he huffed. "Let's not tease me right now, guys. I just got back from a patrol with the others."

Leo strolled closer to you from behind, head leaning on your shoulder. "So.. what’s he’s saying?"

"Yet to find out." You slowly rocked your body back and forth.

“Y’know,” April wondered, “I’ve been thinking: aren’t kids supposed to start talking before they turn two?”

You and Leo felt yourselves freezing at the realization. Supposed to? But what about Casey? Did this imply that you two hadn’t done enough?

Fortunately, Donatello noticed your unease. 

“Ahem,” he cleared his throat, “I mean, we are living in an underground base during an alien invasion. I doubt any of us would own time to cater to a human child full-time.” Donnie raised his “eyebrows” once, giving the message to April.

“Yeah yeah, that makes sense.”

"..Moving on...

Allow me to make a guess: he’ll begin by praising my name and intellect with, 'I love you Donatello Von Ryan and you're the greatest being this universe has to offer,'" Donnie claimed right from his heart and ego.

"God dang, Donnie, I swear," Raph murmured, "if this kid grows up to praise you like some sort of egotistical saint—."

"Scoffs! That could mean one thing for sure, Raphael: Casey will grow to be one of the most intelligent children, taught under by yours truly."

April put her hand on her hip. "Huh. Not gonna lie, I still can't believe Cassandra would name him after herself."

"Doesn't sound far from her, really," you chuckled. "In fact.. I'd be surprised if she managed to make a whole different one."

"Bah.. boo mah.."

"Ooh, ooh!" Mikey leaned his head closer to Casey. "He's going to say something!"

"Putting my bets on 'Mama!'" April raised her hand. Donnie, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and feigned, "Wow! That is so original. Yawn."

"Uh, excuse you." Leonardo looked offended. "Where's the amor for the father-figure?"

You deadpanned. “Since when have we established the ‘Mama’ label?”

"Ever since Leo kept calling himself ‘Papa,’” April chirped. “Sorry, Leo, being the mother-figure, (Name) comes before you." 

"Hm. Raph’s gotta agree."

"Seriously? Even my own brother!?"

"No worries, Lee, I got you!" Mikey leeched onto him.

Donnie coughed. “Continuing to believe he’ll say my name.”

Your eye twitched. “Hey, don’t be disappointed if he says a whole ‘nother word, you guys.” The baby laughed, his giggles drawing the attention of everyone from their debate. 

"Luh..," he blubbered, "ooo."

“...”

"Oh my gosh!" Mikey tightened his grip onto Leo. It was slowly making him struggle to breathe. "Did you hear—? Are you guys thinking—? I think he just said, 'Love youu!'"

"Sorry to break your bubble, but I'm pretty sure they're random syllables, Michael."

"Don't be so pessimistic! We should be happy! Casey’s finally said his first words to us, and they’re ones of love!" "Ew."

Mikey smacked Donnie.

"..Next word has gotta be 'Mama.'" April crossed her arms.

"Uh, I think you mean 'Papa.'"

You sweat-dropped. “I don’t think the debate’s necessary, guys.”

“Leave 'em,” Raph laughed, grabbing your attention. “This is probably one of the only times we’ll ever have our good moments together.” You smiled, watching Mikey and Donnie getting into a passive-aggressive argument themselves. “How’re you and Leo doing with the kid?” Raph asked, inching his giant finger closer to Casey, who proceeded to chew on it.

“The good thing is.. taking care of him is starting come naturally.. and Leo’s still taking my advice to get some rest before we switch roles.” 

Raph found you delaying in your response.

“But. I’m guessing there’s one somewhere.”

“Agh.. It’s just.. Leo seems to be doubting himself again. I was hoping for a chance to talk to him, but maybe.. this time isn’t the right time to do so.”

The snapping turtle moved his hand to your shoulder. “No worries, (Name).” His thumb gently rubbing your nape. “Leave it to me this time.”

“..Okay.”

"Oooh, don't you dare start with me, Leo,” she warned. “It's 'Mama.'"

"'Papa.'"

"'Mama.' Guess you don’t love your lover enough."

“Woah woah, hey!” Leo gasped. Flabbergasted from how April spat that out out of nowhere. "Are you being a mis.. misogynist!?"

“‘Misandrist,’” Donnie corrected.

"'Mama.'"

"Mah-mah!"

“...”

Everyone’s eyes flickered over to Casey, face beaming in the dim cavern.

Out of the stunned group, metallic arms rose from Donnie’s battleshell and tore up a sheet of paper apart. You had no idea where did that come from. "Sigh. Of course, my dreams of raising a follower is demolished once again. Back to the drawing board with my robotic—."

"AWW, he said, ‘Mama!'" The box turtle leaped. 

"Woo! Raph and I call for the air-conditioned room privileges!" April cheered, high-fiving the snapping turtle, who grinned. “We called it!”

“Mahmah!”

“Yes, Casey. It’s me.” An upward quirk of your lips and you snuggled your nose with his. “Mama is here.” The toddler squealed. 

It was this moment that none of you failed to see how Leo’s so-called smile falter. A distant look in his eyes as he came to lower his gaze. 

Raph nodded towards you and April. The both of you returned it, heading into one of the tunnels in silence.

That left the brothers.

It wasn’t until Leo finally tilted his head up that he registered the quietness and lack of your presence. He groaned. “Guys, c’mon. I know what you’re doing, and I don’t need another talk right now.”

“Leo,” Mikey reassured. “It’s okay to talk about your feelings with us, y’know. We’re your brothers! Your family! And family supports each other.”

“Besides,” Donnie crossed his arms, leaving one of his metallic arms to comfort his brother’s back, “it’s about time you quit ruining the mood whenever Casey is brought up.”

Raph hummed. “You’re thinkin’ too much on it, Leo. You know whatever the kid says don’t make you any less of a parent.”

Leo huffed. “I know, I know.”

“Uh huh.” Donnie scoffed. “If you really know that that’s the case, then what’s the actual problem?”

“Nothing.”

“We know it’s not ‘nothing.’”

“...”

“Okay, we can do this then.” Mikey held his brother’s shoulders. The Doctor Feelings side revealing. “I’ll ask the questions you answer by nodding ‘yes’ or ‘no.’

Is it about Casey?” Leo nodded ‘yes.’

“Okay.. Is it about his first words?” He shook his head ‘no.’

Mikey held his chin, pondering. “Is there a specific issue?” Once again, Leo shook his head. The box turtle figured it must be a general conflict. You told him not long ago that his brother was being reserved as of late. You often confided in him your troubles.

“Is this also about (Name)?”

He nodded.

“Is this also about the Kraang?”

..He nodded. This time, Leo proceeded to respond. “Nothing’s the same ever since they invaded.”

“Of course—.” Raph eyed Donnie.

“We could’ve had a normal life. We all could’ve gone for ice cream, jumping to a pool, see snow again.. But look what came to us instead.” A bitter tone. “This isn’t the life I wanted for all of us. This isn’t the life that Casey and (Name) deserves. I-I can’t accept it.

It doesn’t help to think back on their and Cassandra’s words.”

“What do you mean?”

Leo narrowed his eyes. “Cassandra told me (Name) wanted a kid. (Name) told me they couldn’t risk taking care of one in this fucked up place.”

“And they have Casey—.”

“But I know they’d be happier if things were different.”

“Oh? You mean if (Name) doesn’t have fertility issues?”

All eyes on Donnie. “..Huh?”

“Hey!” Mikey exclaimed. “How’d you know that? I thought I’m the one with secrets.”

“Well, Michael, being forced to stick down here and manage weaponry and defenses means keeping track of everyone’s biological systems.”

“..You.. kept trackers on us?”

“Correction: in you. Do I have to remind you that I’m the reason you all managed to survive this long?”

“Ah..” Raph was stunned. “Ah, uh, moving on..

Yeah, we would be happier if we didn’t have the Kraang up on our asses. But even then, this is our reality now. 

We can’t go back. 

And sometimes, your best option is to deal with it and make the most out of what you have. You got that?”

Leo’s breath hitched. He glanced upon reassuring smiles on his brothers’ faces (much less of a smile on Donnie’s, but the aura was there).

“You may be the leader, Leo, but I’m still your older brother,” Raph spoke softly.

A sigh left the red-eared turtle, and he pulled them all into a tight embrace. “Thanks hermanos.”

.

.

.

"Lee-oh," you pronounced slowly, leaning close to Casey. You hadn’t noticed your leader in blue lingering next to the cavern entrance. You always managed to forget that Donnie built an entire underground system for water and air. Yet, your resources weren’t enough to make decent rooms. 

The baby blinked and giggled. "Eeee.."

You wiggled his arms. "Lee-oh."

"Ohh.."

Leo couldn't hold back the wide grin on his face. His heart melted. “I always knew you love me, (Name)," he spoke up.

"God, Leo! You scared me!” you cursed, holding Casey back in the comfort of your arms. "..How are you feeling?”

“Comforted.. thanks to my brothers.”

Once he walked closer to your side, you leaned up to kiss him. “For you to know you’re making a great father-figure. And that you have nothing to worry for about me or Casey.”

Leo blinked and blinked. 

Then, being shy, he hid his growing blush behind his blue scarf. 

It was one you made for his birthday five years ago from a ball of yarn that Todd found, rummaging through wrecked shops. Even after that much time, Leo still became flustered around you.

“Bah.. lo...”

His left arm wrapped around your waist. “I’m glad to have you here, (Name).” You leaned into his plastron. “The same goes for you, Leo.”

“Ee.. oh.”

“Mhm—. Hold on.” The red-eared turtle sat upright. “Did he—?”

“Ee.. oh!” Casey sounded. Lacked a consonant, but the idea was there. 

You chuckled, seeing your boyfriend’s wide-eyed reaction. “He said my name!” he cheered, pulling the toddler from your arms to hold him up. “Leo,” he said.

“Ee-oh!”

“If you were worried about him not saying ‘Papa,’ I’m sure it’s only because April kept repeating ‘Mama’ back there,” you concluded. “Not sure if I’m completely comfortable with the whole label thing.”

“Being called ‘Mama?’”

“Hm.. If I ever feel like changing that up, I can wait until Casey’s a bit older to comprehend better.”

“Ohoho~.” Leo grinned, bringing the baby closer. “Say, ‘Papa.’”

“Ah..”

“‘Papa.’“

“Pa.. wah...”

“‘Papa.’”

“Papah!”

Before You Go | Future Leo X GN!Reader (Part IV)

A/N: Any constructive criticism is appreciated.

Summary: You’re both adopting-parents of Casey. What was expected to be a calm rainy night turned out to be more ominous than you would like.

Reader: Gender-neutral pronouns are used, except the terms “(Mama / Papa)” are also used. Second POV.

Pairing: Rise! Future! Leonardo X Reader

Warnings: None.

Word Count:  ~960

Parts: One / Two / Three / Four / Five / ...

~

All was quiet..

For once in a long time, rain poured down onto New York City and its boroughs. It almost felt like a rainforest. The climate growing hotter over the decade had the water vaporized into a fog. Though you found it suffocating, it prevented the Kraang from seeing clearly. 

Except.. that was only an assumption.

There were many things undiscovered about the alien race and their weaknesses. For now, your base was once again deemed safe.

The red-eared turtle laid on a rock-hard bed, snoring soundly. It was recent when some refugees ran across large segments of concrete. Used not just for sturdy walls, but to replace having to lay on soil. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but you’d never felt any cleaner.

Beside Leo was your sleeping form, arms around Casey. Or so he assumed.. up until something— rather someone— sharply jabbed into his jaw.

THUB.

“Augh!” Pain surged in his teeth and Leo recoiled. He groaned. He hissed. He was ready to yell, ready to complain, but then.. came a young voice to his inner ears.

“..Papa.”

The turtle loosened up his shoulders.

A loud huff out.

It was Casey. The going-onto-five toddler crawled onto his plastron and managed to kick his chin. Leo did not mind him climbing up, except, him rolling around….

“Case,” Leo whispered, “Come on, buddy. I’m trying to sleep here.” The red-eared slider dragged his hand across his face, his fingertips lingering on his chin as if it would help soothe the pain.

Then, he picked Casey up and positioned him between your sleeping form and his. However, the toddler whined and flailed his arms, thrashing not only onto Leo but also your back.

“Noo! Don’t sleep Papa! I don’t want to sleep yet.”

You mumbled in your sleep. That was the cue for Leo to hold Casey down, fearing you would wake up mad. Sleep was precious in a time like this. He knew it himself how much losing any could affect your ability to fight.

He sighed, grimacing. “God, you’re a hyper one. I miss that energy.” This was definitely Cassandra’s son. “Man, if only I know how to sing a lullaby.”

Casey huffed and climbed back onto Leo’s plastron. “What is it, buddy?”

“Red.. stripe,” he muttered.

Leo was taken aback when the kid began to tap his hands up his neck and onto his red markings. This genuinely made the turtle embarrassed, flustered. Sometimes, he forgot he had those features.

At least he was reminded of how unique he was.. and how much you would talk about your infatuation for his stripes back then.

“Cool..”

“You just noticed them now, huh?”

“Where is it from?”

“I..” Leo wouldn’t know how to answer that.

“Can I get one?”

Ah.

“Ohoho. When you go to sleep, bud.” Leo snorted. “You get these cool stripes if you let your Papa and (Mama / Papa) sleep.”

The toddler grumbled, throwing hands at the turtle’s plastron again. “But I don’t want to! Why do I have to sleep?”

Thump..

“Shh shh.. Sleep is important, bud. Do you want to know why we have to stay underground?” This piqued Casey’s interest. He’d never seen the overground, only heard it from the refugees’ stories. He’d also heard about the Kraang, though generally that they were enemies.

“Why?”

“Because the Kraang are monsters who don’t get enough sleep.”

“R-Really?”

“Mhm,” Leo warned. “Stories have it that if you don’t try to get enough sleep, you’ll slowly become crazy and a Kraang—.”

He immediately stopped once he noticed Casey tearing up a bit. The kid whimpered, “I don’t want to be a Kraang..”

“Ah, don’t worry too much about it, bud. If you at least try not to bother others and fall asleep, then you won’t become one.” Leo tapped onto Casey’s chest. “You see (Mama / Papa) over here?”

“Yah.”

“They’re sleeping. You don’t want to get them mad, do you?” Leo brought Casey closer to his face and tapped their noses together. He smiled when the child calmed down and began to giggle. 

“No, Papa.. I want (Mama / Papa) to stay the way they are.”

“Now that’s a good kid.”

—THUMP! THUMP! 

The ground suddenly shook. The dust and dirt falling from the dugout’s ceiling had Leo pushing himself upright.

His heart dropped. Oh no.

“Papa.. What’s that noise—?”

“Shh shh. Probably just Uncle Raph turning over. Get to sleep, bud.” He brushed the bit of dirt off of Casey’s back and carefully placed the toddler on the bed. “Papa’s only gonna check on something real quick.” 

“But.. where are you going!” Casey cried out his questions but was ignored. His father had already hurried his way through the underground base.

.

.

.

“Lee?” The younger brother stepped out of his room rubbing his eyes.

If Mikey heard that.. Leo was not going crazy then. Those noises.. they’d been getting close. 

“What’s going..?” 

Midway in his question, he quickly quieted down, seeing a harrowing expression on Leo’s face. Mikey had a feeling; he had some bad feeling when his bed shook. Was he willing to accept the worst however? He would never be able to. 

“Don’t tell me..” Mikey followed behind. 

“Lee. Lee! It’s not what I think it is, right?!” 

“I-I don’t.. I don’t know.” His older brother’s chest felt heavy as worse outcomes clouded his head. “We.. we’ve gotta check.”

“No no.. God no..” The box turtle prayed. “We can’t move! This was our place for so long!” Leo had never heard nor seen his brother so alarmed, fear behind those wide-eyes. The idea of leaving behind all those memories.. 

It was disturbing him.

“Mikey. We might not have a choice. It’s everyone’s safety above all else.”

“But where do we run to then?!”

Leo winced. He did not want to think further about this right now. 

The two climbed to the top of a ladder, a sewer plate that met their base with the overgrounds. Reluctant, Leo lifted the plate, eyeing around only to see mist against a red sky, glowing faintly under the moonlight.

“Crap. The fog’s not just a disadvantage to the Kraang,” he cursed.

“Anything, Leo?”

“Can’t see anything..” Leo tapped his foot on one of the rungs of the sewer ladder, and his brother began to climb down.

“..They’re not gonna stop,” Mikey mumbled.

He watched his older brother grimace, indicating he was still have a hard time accepting their situation: everyone seeking refuge underground in fear.. having so few resources and life left in them.

Mikey narrowed his eyes. 

“C’mon,” he spoke, reaching the floor, “You said to put everyone’s safety’s above all else.” He placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I know anything can happen, but.. as long as we take care of each other, we can push through this, Lee.”

.

.

There was a long silence before Leo took a deep breath. His hand reached over and returning Mikey’s touch, letting him know.. he was still there. 

“..Right. Thanks, Mike.”

Separating ways, Leo stumbled back to your bedroom with half-lidded eyes, expecting for Casey to have fallen asleep in your arms. 

Which did happen, just not in the way he was imagining.

You were up leaning by the room entrance. The kid was snoring in your arms as you held him close to your chest.

“Agh...” A drained laugh escaped his throat. “And here I was hoping he could be trusted with letting you sleep.”

“Don’t worry,” you smiled. “I’m not mad.. this time.” Leo would’ve returned it, if only he hadn’t seen your expression falter. “They’re trying to find us, aren’t they? They know we’re alive.”

Leo winced again.

“I have to admit.. I’m scared, Leo,” your voice wavered. You could feel it: the outcome was slowly becoming inevitable.

“No.. Stop that, (Name).” He held your shoulders, his thumb rubbing to soothe you. 

One of his hands then lifted your chin up as he leaned closer to kiss you on your lips. “Don’t worry,” he whispered, “I won’t let anything happen to you, Casey, or anyone else.. I won’t let them win.”

You furrowed your brows. “We. We won’t let them win.”

You let yourself get pulled close to Leo. You felt his arms wrap around your body, while you stilled yours around Casey, a tight embrace that showed more fear than reassurance. 

Before You Go | Future Leo X GN!Reader (Part V)

A/N: This is legit the longest part yet. How time flies when I write. Any constructive criticism is appreciated. To be honest, reader feedback boosts my motivation to write anything in the first place.

Summary: You’re both adopting-parents of Casey. After years of being raised in an underground base, seven-year-old Casey got to finally see the overgrounds. Bunch of fluff and family interactions.

Reader: Gender-neutral pronouns are used, except the terms “(Mama / Papa)” are also used. Second POV.

Pairing: Rise! Future! Leonardo X Reader

Warnings: None.

Word Count:  ~3660

Parts: One / Two / Three / Four / Five / ...

~

“Woo! Let’s go Leo!”

Beneath the surface was a battle, surrounded by refugees onlooking their leader, Master Leonardo, against one of Big Mama’s top fighters.

Cheers boomed and echoed the cavern. It was supposed to be a practice round for Leo to better his swordsmanship. Alas, nothing could stop the interest of spectators.

Leo leaped over a giant shuriken being flung at him, making his way right at his opponent. Right when he managed to get close, a hammer smashed him into the ground. Dust and dirt flying from the impact.

The crowd groaned, feeling the phantom pain.

You stood high above in a ledge, watching alongside Leo’s brothers and April. You couldn’t help but wince, worried that all these battles might do your blue wrong if the Kraang ever discovered your base. 

In fact, shouldn’t anyone be concerned at the slightest that the Kraang might hear the commotion? All caution was thrown out the window. You hadn’t even realize Donnie had all the time in his world to build an arena. 

..He hadn’t happened to bother the DIGG band to do this, did he?

In your peripheral vision, a short figure hopped up and down next to you.

“(Mama / Papa)! You promised to take me above!” Casey whined. Though his patience was running low, his youthful curiousity was on high.

“I’m aware. But just be a bit more patient,” you assured. “Your father’s having a big show right now. He’s fighting one of Big Mama’s strongest.”

His eyes glimmered. The seven-year-old hopped again, wanting to see past the ledge. He always had a big interest for fighters and becoming a skilled one. Did he know how? He wasn’t sure at the moment. 

“Really!? I wanna see, I wanna see!”

He yelped as Raph picked him up and sat him on his shoulders. “Gosh, Casey, you’ve got to chill out. Papa’s not goin’ anywhere.” The snapping turtle grinned. “Seeing things better now?”

“Thanks, Uncle Raph!”

The audience roared loudly again. Leo swiped his ōdachi to open up multiple portals. He leaped across from one to another to another. Making a strike. Yes, Leo’s challenger was much larger, strength incomprehensible even, but could they match his speed?

You smiled, seeing Casey in absolute awe.

“You can do it, Papa!” he yelled.

Leo jumped onto one of his opponent’s many arms. His form front-flipping to slash the head. Moments passed and a gash sent the fighter recoiling.

To top it off, he opened a portal underneath them, before another one appeared high above. This time, he anchored his ōdachi in the dirt. He gave his wrists a few twists. And as Big Mama’s fighter fell through.. Leo took a swing and—!

WHHIIIRROOSH!

A heavy wave. A burst of wind. A strong blast from Leo’s contact with his opponent went and knocked everyone off their balance!

Some chunks of the ledge you and your friends were standing in even broke off.

.

.

.

The stunned crowd erupted into cheers. Casey was leaning off of Raph’s head, wide eyes and beaming astonishment on his face. 

“WOW, THAT’S SO COOL!” 

Raph, on the other hand, felt cold sweat the moment he had his own balance faltering from the kid’s movement. “Woah woah! Easy there!”

“Let’s go, baby!” Mikey jumped. “There’s our Leee-oh!”

April examined the knackered ledge. “Yeesh! If he was any stronger, Big Mama’s fighter ain’t gonna be the only one going down.” 

“A safety hazard?” Donnie was appalled. “Great.. another thing for my agenda..”

A quick sigh of relief fell from your lips and you laughed. “Okay okay, you guys. Casey’s been waiting for his time above-ground. Let’s get Leo before we head up.”

.

.

.

“Don’t get too worked up, Big Mama.” Leo smirked. “It’s all just practice.”

The old Spider yōkai huffed. “Yes yes. I was simply hoping that it could’ve been just a tad more entertaining of a show..” She turned her head to her knocked-out fighter, laying against the wall of the arena. “Unfortunate it is to have my Champion thrown off his feet with ease— do you not have other turtley-doos partaking? Perhaps the orange one would do nicely.”

Leo let out a laugh. “Unfortunately, for you, Big Mama, we got another schedule going for today. So how ‘bout you give us a call.. a week later. Sound good?”

“Bu—.”

“Muy bien. ¡Adiós!” He waved.

“Papa!” Leo saw Casey running. He opened his arms for the boy to catch a hug. “You were so cool, Papa! You were like: swish, swash, woosh!”

“You guys were watching me!?” He seemed embarrassed.

“Hello? You got a whole ass arena here, and you think we wouldn’t check out all this screaming going on?”

“Tsk. I mean, I would’ve continued on with my projects if only Mikey and April didn’t drag me outside my lab,” Donnie spoke monotonously.

Leo then faced you.

“Wasn’t he cool, (Mama / Papa)!”

You only grinned, arms crossed. “Yes, sweetheart. He was so cool.. as expected of the greatest ninja I’ve ever known.” A flush of red caught Leo’s face as he coughed into his scarf, and everyone else being mildly amused.

“L-Let’s get moving everyone.”

“Now, child, it’s imperative for you to know that you shouldn’t be all too excited about traversing above-ground,” Donnie lectured, while the group arrived by the elevating system. “I assume your Papa and (Mama / Papa) told you about the Kraang?”

“Yes, Uncle Don!”

“Good. Be aware you are always at risk of being caught in their sight. One detected motion and they could be running here—.”

“Why do we have a ladder when we could just use this thing?”

“That’s a ridicu— I mean, good question, Casey.” Donnie saved himself. “The way up the ladder is far more narrow, a better option if you want to exit the base in a more discreet method. What we’re using can take multiple beings at the same time. 

A big risk in return, however, is that we can easily be spotted. When we reach the top, you’ll see that this Eleva-Don has a dome covered in rock and soil.”

“To camoflauge?”

“Hm.. Can’t necessarily consider it camoflauge, but sure, the purpose is to hide the entrance to this base.”

.

.

“How long does it take to go up?”

“..Now that you mentioned it,” Raph wondered. “Shouldn’t we be up a minute ago?”

Donnie hummed. “..Give me a moment— my bad, I forgot I had implemented another button to push, because some morons kept forgetting their equipment.”

The group reached the entrance. It was like the purple’s description. There was a sturdy dome over and a sealed doorway being the only thing separating Casey’s eyes from the outside world. But he had to admit: he felt a bit nervous. His small hand took yours, and you tightened your grip to comfort the boy.

Leo stepped on the other side of Casey, eyes narrowing.

“Casey, before I open the entrance, you must brace yourself,” Donnie warned. “There are hot winds blowing and dry air outside. Move your eyes away from any flying dust too. 

In fact, be quick to cover your eyes. You’re not used to the light.

..Do you understand?”

“Yes, Uncle Don.”

The hinges turned. And as told, a bright light beamed through and the boy had to clasp his hands over. It was blinding, especially for someone who had spent his whole life in dim undergrounds. 

It took a long while. 

He felt the winds drying the moisture off his skin, even the sweat he released.. Bit by bit, Casey’s fingers separated. His sights eventually adjusted to seeing his shoes. Then, from side to side upon his parents’ footwear. Then, some prickly brush nearby. 

And then.. the horizon.

He didn’t know what to expect. He heard all the recreations from his uncles and aunt. He heard more from the refugees. They all said the same thing: red skies and dried.

However, somehow, this was more than he could’ve dreamt of.

There were skeletons, bones of different kinds on the ground. Large boulders to play hide and seek in. Flying cotton balls to make a snow ball.

Casey looked back at the horizon. There afar was a giant city. Broken, yet it was still a magnificent city in his mind. Tall skyscrapers were shattered in half, ragged edges remained.

But his amazement stopped at the sky, bloody-colored skies and dark clouds. Right above New York City was a floating.. ship of some sort. It looked like that one yōkai’s eyeball, always plopping out and back in.

The boy cowered behind your leg. 

He tugged onto your hand. “Hey (Mama / Papa)?” You looked down. “I thought you said you found bunch of things and food here. Why is it so empty?”

“Empty?”

“Yeah.”

“..It might look like that. But I promise you, Casey, there’s more to it than meets the eye. It’s been many years away, so expect that a lot is buried in sand and dirt.” You began leading him. “Come along.”

“..That’s.. kind of boring. What about fighting Kraang and stuff?”

“Hm.. You know..” You just noticed: there were barely monsters in your area. Could they have gone to the city? Best of luck to the others going then.

“How can you find anything?”

“That’s easy,” Mikey spoke up. “The best way is to catch a glimmer, some sort of sparkle on the ground. Sometimes, you’ll find something valuable.”

“..Oh! Like this?” The boy picked up an empty plastic chip bag. Mikey deadpanned.. and cleared his throat. “My poor boy, of course not. That’s useless trash.” For a moment, Doctor Delicate Touch came out. He snatched it away and threw it behind him.

“If you see anything more like that, toss it right behind you. Or even better, don’t pick it up. Trust me, it’ll save you so much time.” 

Casey slumped. This wasn’t the finders-keepers experience he was... He shook his head. Whatever, he should just follow you instead—.

Another sparkle in the distance. This one gleamed brighter than that chip bag.

He glimpsed around. You were a couple of feet away. Mikey disappeared. His Papa in a couple of feet in the opposite direction. The red-eared turtle appeared to be casting his gaze at the landscape, arms crossed. The others? Didn’t follow their path.

At least, he had his parents.

The boy moved closer. It was in an open box? There was some really smooth-looking cloth on the inside. Cushioned in it, there was.. a long necklace.. He recognized what a necklace should look be, many refugees had one of their own to cherish. 

Oh, hold on.. there were two necklaces?

He examined the pendant. Shiny. Silver-like. It looked like a heart, except there seemed to be a gash right in the middle. “Oh..” 

It was broken..

.

.

An idea lit up.

Casey took the box, brushing off the sediment, closed it, and shoved it down one of his pockets. Maybe Uncle Don could help him.

“Oho? What do you have there, Case?” He flinched when he heard his father from behind. “Don’t think I didn’t see that.”

“Don’t scare me, Papa!”

“Pfft. You’re just like (Mama / Papa).”

The boy fiddled his fingers, before reaching back into the pocket. He pulled out the box. “I found this necklace.. but.. it’s broken. I thought Uncle Don might fix it!”

Leo took the box from his hands. He chuckled.

“It’s not a broken necklace, buddy. These are couple necklaces.”

“Couple necklaces?”

“They can be two separate ones.. Put them together though..” Leo clicked the two halves in place. “..And they become a whole.”

“They look.. a lot shinier together!” Casey admired.

“Yeah.” Leo’s eyes squinted as he smiled. “It does, doesn’t it?”

“What about ‘friendship’ necklaces? Are those any different?”

The red-eared turtle blinked. He realized he assumed these were meant for couples. Maybe it was because everything that came in pairs reminded him of he and—.

“Oh, I have an idea!” Casey proposed, grabbing the box from Leo’s hand. He faced himself in your direction. “Maybe these can be for you and (Ma / Pa)—mmrph!”

“Hm?” Your head turned towards them. “Did you two call me?”

“Uh! No no!” Leo frantically waved his hand off. “We didn’t say anything.. at all! You can keep doing your own thing, (Name).”

Blinked once, twice. You shrugged, eyes down on the ground.

Leo sighed, releasing his other hand from the kid’s mouth. “Bah! Papa! What was that for? Don’t you show (Mama / Papa) about this? They’ll love it a lot!”

“Shh shh.. I’m sure they will, Case. But.. I have another idea on how we can show them. Okay?” The red-eared turtle proceeded to whisper into the boy’s ear, hoping you wouldn’t catch it if you tried.

The seven-year-old clasped his mouth, eyes sparkling. He nodded his head.

.

.

“Find anything, (Name)?” April asked, the group rendezvousing.

You sighed. “Only packets of vegetable seeds.”

“Hey, more food, the better.”

“Let’s just hope Todd will be able to work his magic on them.”

“Knowin’ he raised who-knows-how-many puppies back then, m’sure he could handle a couple of plants.”

“What about you?”

“The city’s tough to get through as ever. We only got a couple of blankets and scraps of metal for Don. You didn’t come to the city?”

“With a child who barely knows how to nagivate out here?”

“Point taken. How’s the kid doing?”

“..I.. I think he likes the rummaging.” 

“Why’d you hesitate to say that? Giving me a scare for a sec.” April laughed behind her hand. “That’s good, that’s good. Gives ‘nother reason for him to go out more.”

“Just as long as he watches himself.”

“Have some faith in him, (Name).”

“Of course.” You closed your eyes. “Commander O’Neil.”

“H-Hey!” She wrapped her arm around your neck, while you laughed. “Thought I said I don’t want my own friends calling me that.”

“Do you not like it?” 

“Yeah I do, but..” April pulled away and rubbed her arm. “I don’t want you guys to forget what we all were before.”

Your breath paused.

She continued, “We were all close friends. If we start calling each other these formalities, I.. don’t know how different we’ll treat each other.”

“...”

“Man.” April almost felt her eyes sting. “Young me wouldn’t be this emotional over some title. Only in our late twenties, and we’re already talkin’ like we’re gonna die.”

You chuckled. “This world’s making us old, isn’t it?”

“Sure is..” 

Your friend slowly faced the base entrance. “Guess we better return. Boys! Let’s head back!” she called out. They moved along, except for Leo and Casey. They stood in place and gave a knowing look at each other.

You raised an eyebrow.

“Leo! Casey!” April shouted again, only to be stopped by Donnie. He pushed her off, whispering something in her ear. Raph, strolling behind and past you, tapped your shoulder. Then, Mikey winked.

You were confused.

What was going on?

“(Name),” your blue called, signalling for you to come with them. “Casey and I got something to show you.”

They led to a short hill, where the three of you sat watching the horizon. The whole world might’ve changed dramatically, sunrises and sets still exist.

“Vegetable seeds weren’t the only thing you found, was it.”

“How perceptive.” You snorted. “No.. there was something else. When we walked further an hour ago, there was something I recognize..”

You pulled out something wrapped in a brown cloth and unwapped it.

It was.. Cassandra’s hockey stick.

Leo’s eyes widened. “You.. No way..”

“I can’t believe it was intact after many years..” You teared up, holding the stick close to your chest. “I thought it disappeared with her..”

“..She probably dropped it, switching to her hyperbeam guns..,” Leo guessed. “You chose not to tell April?”

“Hey.. I get emotional talking about anything related to Cassandra to anyone else. You’re the only other guy who knew exactly what happened anyway..”

Casey was perplexed. 

He tugged onto the blue scarf. “..Papa? Why’s (Mama / Papa) crying over a.. wooden stick? Who is she talking about?”

“Don’t ask me, buddy. Your (Mama / Papa) knows this person a lot more than I do.”

You moved your arm, pulling the boy close to you. “Casey.. There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while..” You gazed down at him. “Did you know you have another parent?”

“...”

Casey was absolutely shocked, flabbergasted, open jaw and wide eyes.

Meanwhile, Leo was dying on the inside. You couldn’t help but laugh as well. “Heyy! Are you trying to joke around?” 

“Sorry sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh,” you quieted down. “But it’s true.”

You pulled out a photograph. There was you, Leo, and everyone else.. except for an unfamiliar woman with piercings and a paler complexion in darker clothing. Casey took a closer look. “She’s also my Mom?”

“Yes, she is.”

Casey then glared at Leo, who was taken aback by the kid’s offended expression. “..(Mama / Papa),” he not-so-quietly whispered. “..Did Papa cheat on you?”

The red-eared turtle coughed hard. He was ready to argue, charge at the boy for even thinking he would do that to you. Where did he even learn the concept of cheating? Those gossiping girls who somehow remembered everything from their high school career?

“Hey—!”

“Don’t worry, he may seem like the kind, but he would never.” You teasingly smiled, testing Leo. “You actually have two fathers.”

“How come he isn’t in the photo?”

“..He just.. doesn’t like pictures.”

“Oh.”

“Mhm.”

“What about other Mom? How come I’ve never seen her?”

You sighed. “Casey.. You know how sometimes Papa and I go out to make sure no Kraang comes near us?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you miss us when we’re gone?”

The boy fiddled his fingers. “Even though Uncle Mikey.. Uncle Raph.. Auntie April.. and sometimes Uncle Don take good care of me, I still wish you were there with me.”

“And we miss you too.” You tightened your embrace. “That’s because we love you, Casey. We are both always worried that something can happen and we won’t be there to help you. 

But we also have a job to do for everyone, to make sure we are all safe.”

“..Is that why other Mom is not here?”

“Correct. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you. In fact, she was willing to fight the whole world to make sure you’re in good hands.” You tapped his chest. “She had to fight the Kraang too. She knew she won’t be able to see you for a long time. Because she loves you so much, she wants only the most capable to raise you.”

“...It’s okay, (Mama / Papa). You don’t have to say it like that.”

You felt yourself freeze.

“I’m growing up. I can handle it,” Casey assured. “..Is she up in the stars?”

“..She is.”

His arms wrapped around your back and Leo’s shell. “Well.. In my heart, you’ll always be my (Mama / Papa) and Papa to me. Nothing will ever change how much I love you.”

You inhaled, struggling to keep a stoic face.

Leo covered half of his face in his scarf. In the end, even he couldn’t hide his feelings. He decided to give you both a sudden big hug himself. “Gah! Come here, you two! You really know how to make a grown man cry.”

“Ah, Leo! You’re.. hurting.. our lungs..!” In reluctance, the turtle released you. “Look what happened, your Papa’s turning into an sobbing mess.”

“This was a heartwarming moment for me, (Name). Don’t you dare judge.”

Casey bit his lip. This was when he made his move.

“Oooh. Did you know Papa can also turn into romance?”

Leo froze.

“Hey hey, hold on there, buddy..” A nervous chuckle. “Couldn’t you give a cue? We’re.. doing this right now, no warning?” 

“But this was your plan!” Casey countered. “Stand up, both of you!” You followed along. The hockey stick set aside for now. At this point, better not to ask more questions.

“(Mama / Papa).. Papa says he has something special to show you.” The boy gave Leo a box.. Indiscreet as he was, he tried. A grin appeared on his face when he scurried off behind a nearby rock.

“So.. I’m guessing this had to be related to my name called back there.” You put your hands on your hips.

“He’s still learning his social cues. He’ll get his self-awareness from me, you’ll see.” Leo cleared his throat. “Anyways.. (Name).. it’s been a long time since we got together. Even longer when we first met.. say about twelve years ago. 

Gotta admit.. first impressions weren’t special.

You were just another high school kid. You were the second human I know to ever like hanging out with us mutants. You just seemed like another person to me.

But you were.. considerate.. kind. I wasn’t used to having someone actually listening to me, ‘cause we were all idiots back then. The gang and I would only fool around, bite each other and all.

It wasn’t until you.. said something.. Those words to me..” He felt his hand reaching out. 

You took it in both of yours. There was a light in your eyes. You remembered exactly what that moment was. Your voice slipped, 

“..You have always been my champion..”

Leo’s grip tightened as he immediately went down on both knees. “No one.. no one’s ever said that to me... I couldn’t help it anymore. 

I couldn’t help looking your way every time you were there.

As much as I hate to swallow my pride, I couldn’t help but act all cool and badass whenever you’re looking.. even though most times didn’t work out so well.

You were the only one who believed in me.. and I knew it has to be you.”

Then, Leo released your hands. He took the box out and opened it. “I know it isn’t an overrated ring.. but..” The two heart halves revealing themselves on separate chains.

“(Name).. Will you.. marry me?” 

.

.

.

“..Yes.” You were tearing up again. “Yes! But..!” 

His heart suddenly chipped itself off. That last word was never assumed to be a good sign. “Is there something wrong? ..God.. did I do this too soon?”

You, though, were trying not to snicker. “No no. It’s just.. you’re supposed to propose on one knee, Leo! Not both!”

“They chose to question that over the whole ‘apocalypse proposal’?” Donnie muttered to the others. “How does anyone even consider that as romantic?”

“Donnie, shut your aro-ace ass.” 

Your blue turned red. Embarassed, his face was flushed. He groaned, “Not the teasing right now. Is being the only person to get me on both not enough for you?” 

“Hm. We’ll just have to see how we do in bed.”

Leo choked. 

“WHAT—.”

“(NAME), NOT IN FRONT OF THE KID!” Raph screamed.

Before You Go | Future Donnie & April Insight (Part VI)

(Reader Included)

A/N: Any constructive criticism is appreciated. Reader comments and feedback are also welcomed a lot. 

I have been gone for a long time. Just occupied with my studies! No fan fiction author curse or anything (yet).

Summary: You’re both adopting-parents of Casey. The story follows the perspective of Donatello and April O’Neil during the Kraang apocalypse. You and Leonardo decided to ask them to watch over thirteen-year-old Casey.

In other words, familial interactions between April, Donnie, and Casey Jr.

Reader: Gender-neutral pronouns are used, except the terms “(Mom / Dad)” are also used. Second POV.

Pairing: Rise! Future! Leonardo X Reader

Warnings: Bittersweet.

Word Count:  ~3490

Parts: One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six / ...

~

Donnie knew how much of a genius he was.

It was no surprise after all. In his late teens, he improved NASA’s satellites to communicate with planets light centuries away. He cured breast cancer through the use of protons in radiation therapy to target specific cells, rather than affecting the harmless. Hell, he even managed to discover a new type of radioactive particles: mutons. By that point, he—.

“—should have been given a Nobel Prize in Medicine and in Chemistry.” Donnie cursed under his breath. He strolled over to his lab bench, equipping his goggles.

Squeeeak. 

April– who was found seated on Donnie’s roughed-up, spinning gaming chair– raised an eyebrow. Her hair had grown out and was left unbounded. Faint wrinkles and eye bags on her features displayed maturity, in contrast to a couple of years ago. However, everyone was well aware that time was not the only factor. 

“Whatcha going on about now, Donnie?”

The softshell huffed. “Recall when I wrote a report about my experimental findings with an invention meant to revive a deceased human being?”

“...You mean the one where you thought it was a good idea to open up Curie’s tomb? Even gone as far as to ask for my help?” April grimaced. “Who’d ever forget that.”

She proceeded to massage her temples. 

“God. You were in all kinds of messed up for that, Don.”

Lightning-like yellow sparks flickered as Donnie had his robotic hands occupied with a butane torch. His goggles were sealed tight around his eyes as he built a oval-looking device on his lab bench. Titanium outer-layer over a seriously complex circuit-board; appearing as if Samsung marketed grenades.

He scoffed. “Oh please. It wasn’t as if I’d taken long to understand how Marie Curie deserves her rest for her great contributions to radiation. Thus is why–.”

“–You decided to take a poor random husband of an old wife,” April interjected.

“Ahem.” Donnie pronounced. “The poor woman was begging me for her husband to be alive again. I was simply gracious and generous enough to not charge her for the process.” He set aside the butane torch. “At least it progressed well; he stayed alive for an additional two years. It gave his wife psychological comfort, and I was able to submit my paper to the N.S.F..” 

He picked up a screwdriver. “Except....” 

April could tell her friend’s eye was twitching. 

“They rejected my findings, nearly had me detained, and claimed it was far too ‘unethical.’” Donnie raised his volume. “Scoff! As if those researchers weren’t committing the crime themselves! Taking bodies away from families and claiming them as scientific property without permission.

If I could go back in time and shove my documents in their jaws, you bet I would.”

April smirked. “Well, I have my regrets too, Donnie.”

“You sound rather amused, April. Is that so surprising? And here I never thought you would regret your part-time job at Albearto’s. Or the fact you wasted money to switch to journalism in university.”

WHACK!

April threw her bat at Donnie’s head, flying back to her hand like a boomerang.

“Watch your mouth, mister. I may have regretted Albearto’s, but not a single moment in my life did I ever regret my journalism passion.” She stood up.

“Ouch.” The softshell vocalized, squinting his eyes toward her. His robotic clampers paused, setting aside the torch and taking off his goggles. 

“Mind yourself, April. Horse-playing is forbidden in the laboratory. I am not consenting to having yet another silver-titanium apparatus get scratched because of you.” Donnie gritted his teeth. “Can you hear the negative connotation?”

“Seriously, Donnie? Where’d that come from? Not only was that years ago but it ain’t anything except a simple accident.” 

“‘Simple accident?’” the softshell repeated with dramatic offense. “An accident, like many others in science labs, which could have caused severe damage! Remember the incident when your teacher dumped bleach and vinegar into the trash bin?

You know, if you had paid any attention in your chemistry class, those two would make mustard gas?” Donnie side-eyed his friend. “Simple accidents can have serious consequences, O’Neil.”

A hand crept up the lab bench.

“Uh-huh, and I’m supposed to believe an instance of me knocking over your phone and books would kill somebody?” April crossed her arms. “If anything, the blame’s yours for not organizing your desk when you got drunk on coffee.”

The hand took ahold of the butane torch.

“Donatello? Disorganized? Sounds cheap coming from you, a student majoring in Journalism.”

April pulled up her coat’s sleeves. “Oh boy, you’re about to get it—.”

Squeeeak!

Heads spun and found a 13-year old boy, replacing April’s spot on Donnie’s chair. Casey eyed the torch with a great yet concerning amount of curiosity.

“Yo, what’s this for, Uncle Don?”

At lightning speed, while April ran to move the gaming chair away further from the workbench, Donnie snatched the tool from his hands. “Child. Casey. Young man.” The softshell heaved loudly. “I must inform you this is NOT meant to be handled with such casual ease. How in Hawking did you even—.”

“Don’t your lab have a passcode or something?” 

“–Is what I am wondering myself, O’Neil. I refuse to believe this child remembers the beginning thirty numbers of π–.”

“Nope, only us.” April and Donnie lifted their gazes to his lab entrance. You leaned on the frame while a dear red-eared slider stood just behind. A couple of steps inside, and the metallic lab door shut close. 

Donnie– strangely– was quick to hide his device-in-progress off to the side.

“You’re back!” April grinned. “Hell, you would not believe the convo Donnie and I were having a minute ago.” She hurried to hug you.

“Figures,” Leo remarked. “We could practically hear you yards off.”

“Sounds like things never get old.” You smiled.

There was a side-eye between Donnie and April, before the Commander proceeded to inquire, coughing: “Anyhow.. care to explain the occasion? You two don’t seem to be in a hurry.”

“The only times you ever visit my laboratory are to prepare for immediate combat engagement, and you look awfully collected.” The softshell furrowed his brows.

“No, no.” You waved your hands, shaking your head. “Thank God no. We came here to ask if you two could take care of our Casey here while we head out.” The other turtle scrunched his in-quote eyebrows. “You— You came here to request us to... babysit him?”

April jabbed him in his plastron.

“You see? Just like I said.” Leo turned to you. “I know my brother, love. Don’s not the kind of guy to take responsibility for a kid. Or anyone, really.”

“Hold on.” Donnie narrowed his eyes. “I never said I refused, Leo.”

“Don’t know, it sounds like it to me.”

“Well, my misinformed brother, contrary to your belief, I am perfectly capable of handling a child.”

You huffed with amusement. Your husband only winked back.

“If you say so, Don.”

“Where are you two heading off for if you needed us to watch over him?” April inquired. “Wondering, ‘cause this never happened even when you two leave for patrol.”

“Just finding some time for ourselves.”

April exclaimed, “As in a honeymoon? Why not just say so? We’ll leave you two alone–.”

“–In this economy and climate?” Donnie interjected. “Has it also not been six years since your yet-to-be-legal marriage?”

“Alright, alright,” Leonardo chuckled. “Cut us some slack, bro. Finding time wasn’t easy when there’s Kraang above our necks.”

“Right, and you’re going on a honeymoon, how?” The softshell crossed his arms. “Simply because you’re the leader does not equate to you making wise decisions, Leo.”

“His ōdachi can teleport anyone to anyplace, we have some hope we can easily teleport to a remote area,” you answered. “One without Kraang infestation. It’ll be hard, but we may as well try.”

“Bonus points if we find clear skies and an ocean.” The red-eared turtle grinned, wrapping his arm over your shoulders.

“What’s a honeymoon, (Mom / Dad)?”

Your hand went to caress Casey’s cheek. “Parent quality time. It just means you get to handle yourself like the responsible grown-up you’ll become one day. Just promise me you’ll be on your best behavior around Uncle Don and Auntie April?”

“I promise, (Mom / Dad)!”

“Good boy,” Leo laughed, ruffling the kid’s hair.

“You didn’t ask Mikey and Raph to help out too, or?”

“Between you and me, I think you guys are better of making sure Casey doesn’t get into any chaos,” you whispered to April. “Don’t tell them that, though.”

She laughed. “Okay, I see how it is. You both have fun.” 

Donnie bit his lip. Right as Leonardo and (Name) turn to exit the laboratory, he extended his arm out to them.

“Leo, (Name).”

You two faced back to him once more.

“Don’t kill yourselves out there.”

Everyone’s eyes widened– April, you, and Leonardo himself. But the brother in blue snickered, holding a smile that reached his eyes. “So you do also care for me, Don. And all this time I thought you were plotting to put me in my grave or something.”

“We won’t.” Leo placed a hand on your shoulder. “You got my word.”

“Bye (Mom / Dad)! Bye Papa!”

“We’ll be back soon, Casey!”

Donnie stood in silence as you finally left, leaving himself with none other than his best friend and his nephew. “I refuse to believe this is the future we have to deal with.”

“Times changed all of us, didn’t they?” April spoke. “One day we wish each other a good one, and the next, we hope we just don’t die. I could’ve been a famous news anchor by now, make my mother happy, fight crime without worrying about dying the next second.

..I wonder if there’s anyone else out there besides the small number of us down here.”

“..I doubt it.”

Donnie pulled himself together and walked back to his workbench, operating his clampers to work once again. He put on his goggles. Casey, being a young teenager of enthusiasm, peeked over.

“Watch yourself, boy,” April warned.

“Don’t worry about me, Auntie. I’m only standing over here.” Casey narrowed his eyes upon the glowing and metal-like ball his uncle had his tools on. “What are you working on, Uncle Don?”

“A sphere.”

“A sphere?”

“You heard correctly.”

“That sounds kind of boring.”

Donnie had to hold himself back from remarking with: ‘That is exactly what every child whose intellect is doomed would say.’

“I’m sure your mother would find it rather moving.”

“(Mom / Dad)? I don’t understand what’s emotional about a ball, though.”

“Hey Casey.” April coughed. “Why not tell us about your mask here? Haven’t taken a good look at it before. Maybe Uncle Don would like to hear it too.”

“You actually want me to talk about my mask?”

“Ain’t a problem, is it?”

“No.” He fidgeted with his fingers a bit. “You don’t have anything else to do?”

“We were just told to watch over you, kid.”

“Yeah, but everyone I know is always busy with the Kraang or supplying weapons. I never really get chances to hang out.”

There was a brief pause in the butane torch’s flame.

April’s expression softened. Her hand came up to brush his black hair. “Things have gotten calmer up there. So you’ve got plenty of time with us now.”

Casey smiled.

“So your mask?” 

The boy alternated between covering his face and removing it. “(Mom / Dad) gave it to me. She told me it is based on the one worn by my biological mother. (Mom / Dad) also said that my birth mother was kind of crazy-funny and likes to be loud. She would have a stick to play– what was it– hockey?

I don’t know what kind of game hockey is supposed to be, but I guess it’s nice to know how life was like before all the Kraang.”

A sad smile crept on April’s lips. 

“Anyways, I thought the mask looked kind of plain, so I decided to draw red marks on it. See?” Casey showed his mask off, fingers tapping the surface. “Guess who it looks like!”

There were two bold and thick streaks of red. Each one ran through one eye, truly a defining characteristic. The Commander chuckled, already imagining how much pride her friend in blue would feel from the fact a kid– let alone one he had been parenting– looked up to him so much.

“You know, I am seeing someone familiar here.” April hummed as she put on a thoughtful facade. Fingers holding her chin and everything. “Got to be Uncle Don.”

Named turtle paused for a moment and raised a brow.

“Seriously, Auntie April?” On the other hand, Casey gave her an incredulous look and shook his head. “You probably want to get your eyes checked out, ‘cause Uncle Don doesn’t have any red stripes.” Off to the side. “And even if he did, he won’t look as cool as Dad.”

April snickered behind her palm as Donnie eyed the boy from behind his goggles.

“You’re right, you’re right. Just messing with you, kid.” Her hand ruffled his hair once more. “Sounds like you really admire your Papa, don’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Dad has an awesome sword that opens up portals. He always moves so quickly whenever he’s fighting. Bam! And the Kraang’s gone!” The teenager stretched his arm for emphasis. “Even as the leader, Papa knows when to get serious and when to make people laugh. He also cares a lot about me, (Mom / Dad), you guys, and everyone!”

It made even Donnie himself smile. 

However, the way Casey’s enthusiasm died down had not gone unnoticed. “I’ve always wanted to help out though.” He sighed, shoulders slumping. “I want to fight the Kraang right by his and (Mom / Dad)’s side. Except I barely get the chance to, because they keep telling me to stay close to base and hide behind a giant rock.”

April crossed her arms and went quiet. His feelings were nothing new. In fact, she experienced the same thing herself, seeing she had always been a human. It was like that until–.

“Have no hard feelings,” Donnie spoke up, his hands and eyes remained on his spheric gadget. The sparks were flying. “Your parents are merely worried about your well-being.”

“I know, I know. They won’t have to though, if I can have enough training or something.” Casey sighed. “Then again, I also know I’m only a normal sensitive human.

...Why can’t I be a mutant instead?”

“Ahem. You are classified as a human. That is a true statement and one you cannot change.” Donnie hummed. “However, that does not mean you cannot be strong and capable in other ways.”

“Why does it sound like you’ve been in my place before?”

“Perhaps I did. Did you truly think being a soft-shell turtle is easy? I happened to be born as one of the only Testudines species whose outer shell cannot protect.” Donnie remarked. “Casey, your mask.” His hand signaled.

“What about my mask?”

“I merely want to add something.”

Confused, he hopped off the chair and handed the mask over. “Hmm. As long as you don’t mess with the stripes, Uncle Don.”

“Who says I won’t?”

Casey kicked Donnie’s leg.

“‘Ow,’ I say sarcastically without feeling physical pain.”

“Hmph.” He crossed his arms. “Why do you keep saying things like that?”

“Such as?”

“You say those action verbs, even when you’re already doing them.”

April snorted. “Just his thing, kid. Uncle Don’s got his special quirks.”

“Do you have a quirk?”

“Picking unnecessary fights for one,” Donnie commented.

“You only call them ‘unnecessary,’ because you never want to fix the problem.”

He rolled his eyes. “My solution would’ve been ten times more efficient if you had allowed my technology and I to do the work.”

Casey wondered. “Does your tech ever go haywire, Uncle Don?”

“No.”

“Oh man,” April began, “you should’ve been there for this one time. Your Uncle Don was building some kind of overprotective bed to keep your late Gramps from waking up from his beauty sleep.”

“Gramps likes to sleep?”

“You’d be surprised to hear that he sure does.”

“Then what happened?”

“Uncle Don asked your Dad, Uncle Mikey, and Uncle Raph to try punching, slicing, throwing whatever they could on the bed. They were attacking it like crazy!”

“And then?” 

“And the bed was even more insane, ‘cause there were actual missiles shooting out! They went straight for his brothers. At some point, it got overboard, so Uncle Don tried to command it to stop.”

“I’m hearing a ‘but’ coming.”

“But it malfunctioned and thought Uncle Don was the enemy!”

“However!” Donnie pointed his finger up, interrupting the story-telling. “It did not take long for my creation to recognize his master.”

“Still went haywire in my book,” April remarked. 

“Ignoring that.” His robotic hand tapped the edge of his workbench, grabbing Casey’s attention. “Come here, young man.” He slid back the mask, except in his hands, it felt as if the frame had thicken.

“It looks the same, but it doesn’t feel the same?”

“Try wearing it over your face.”

The boy did as told. All of a sudden, a bunch of green rectangles and words appeared in his vision. He gasped in awe. He spun around slowly, watching the rectangle focus on a figure through the wall.

“Yes yes, I know. I am well aware of how amazing I am.” Donnie huffed in pride. “I have opted to construct an interface with your mask. I cannot see why you shouldn’t have something to defend yourself with,” he reasoned. “I have other updates in mind later on. As of now, however, your mask will help you detect life forms across other rooms or through other objects.” 

“That’s so cool!” The boy hesitated though. “But I don’t want to break it or anything.”

“Hey.” April rested her hand on Casey’s shoulder, giving a firm squeeze. “Our resources are already scarce. Using then losing them is better than nothing. You better make the most of our tech. Understood, soldier?”

Casey grinned underneath his mask. He fixed his posture up and saluted. “Gotcha–! Understood, Commander!” 

He faced the inventor, whose hands were already back to being occupied with the “sphere.” “Thanks so much, Uncle Don!” Casey exclaimed, leaping towards the turtle to give a tight hug. “You’re the best!” 

Upon contact, Donnie stiffened up, but his lack of experience with physical touch did not prevent a smile forming on his face. He extended a robotic arm, patting Casey’s back. 

The boy then scanned around curiously with his mask. “Hey! Think I spot Uncle Mikey and Uncle Raph two floors down! They’re holding hands over a table or something. Why are so many people circling around them?”

April rolled her eyes. “Sounds like another arm-wrestling match between the our youngest and oldest brother.” 

Just like that, Casey booked it out of the laboratory so quickly, it reminded her of a certain red-eared slider. “What the–! Casey!” April groaned. “And here I thought we don’t have to deal with runaway kids. I better catch up to him.” 

“Would not worry about him too much,” Donnie commented. 

“What do you mean by that?”

“Considering we will not always be alive to protect him... the sooner we leave him to himself, the easier it will be for him to survive alone.” 

“Hey. Come on now.” April walked to her best friend’s side. “Don’t you say things like that. We’re all going to survive this together–.”

“April.” Slight pain wavered in his voice. “You know as well as I do how our current reality is. It is only a matter of time before the Kraang finds everyone.” 

“Yet you’re still here trying.”

No response.

“It’s all because of the kid, isn’t it?” April affirmed. “He ain’t any genius prodigy you were expecting long ago. But he gave you a reason to try– he became someone worth fighting for.”

“I would not put it as simply as that.”

She shrugged. “That’s how I’d say it. You know you’re not the only one whose life changed because of Casey.”

Donnie paused his work, turning off the butane torch and finally pulling his goggles off his eyes again. “...Casey reminds me of when we were young, being rash and immature teenagers like any other. I hate admitting to such thing, but I was one too. And I hate admitting much more how much I missed those times.

The child has known nothing of the trouble we’ve experienced outside, April: when Cassandra was killed, when Draxum was torn apart, when Dad decided to sacrifice himself despite the slim odds.” His hands clenched into fists.

“Do not expect me to have any false hope for our future, but do not assume I would want Casey to feel the same way. For as long as he can, I want him to hold onto that false hope.”

“...” April had her arms crossed. Her eyes slowly came to linger on the workbench. “Is that ‘sphere’ his false hope?”

“..No. Not his.” Donnie traced his thumb over his contraption. “It’s for (Name).”

In This Episode of "Mad Dogs Love Reader" : Mystic Library

A/N: This lowkey feels like crack-fiction. Then I remember the premise is the actual, released episode itself. I did my utmost trying to adhere with the characters' personalities when it came to non-canonical dialogue.

I am aware of your comments about my Donnie X Reader shots and feel really happy to hear them! After a year or so of not writing, though, I apologize for my rough return. I still love Rise of TMNT with my heart and hope to see a single glimpse of the show's possible continuation.

Constructive criticism is much appreciated! Especially for character-writing! Leave some comments about it if you will.

Summary: While searching for something to help your project, you found yourself jammed into a fiasco of a book find with the Mad Dogs in the Mystic Library.

Episode Base: Episode 20A "Mystic Library"

Implied Pairings: Rise! Donnie X Reader • Rise! Leo X Reader • Rise! Raph X Reader

Reader: Gender Neutral. Human.

Word Count: ~2070

➵ ➵ ➵

ECHO-O

CHOO

HOO

OO!

You whipped your head. "What the hell was that?" you muttered to yourself, cautious of the "Hush Bats" hanging from above.

Your hand flipped through pages of a book, yet nothing remarkable piqued you. You sighed. You needed to get a project done as soon as possible before you could hit the weekend concert in Central Park. "Where are all the books on the anatomy of frogs. . .?" You picked out another book, this time with a fish-like Yōkai on the cover page.

"What are they doing here?" Your ears perked at recognizing that coarse, scratchy voice. "Can't we enjoy a nice peaceful Sunday without those clowns showing up?"

April and the others showed up? Here?

"I got an idea," Foot Brute gestured a "knuckle-sandwich." "Since they're always messing up whatever we're doing, why don't we mess up whatever they're doing?"

Under their breaths, they snickered evilly.

You frowned. Not on my watch, bozos.

⇨ ⇨ ⇨

"Loom 16." Donnie slid, rocking into his rhythm as he busted out singing. "Take Corridor B. Down-the-stairs past the Ibis tapestry."

"Uhh. . . Donnie?" Raph whispered, feeling uneasy when even Leo decided to join in with his beatboxing. "We're still in the library." Yet his warning went ignored.

"Sliding bookcase after bookcase shows the way to the hall– up a pole through a hole to the waterfall." He rhymed with every line. Raph hushed him, "Keep it down Donnie!"

Aimlessly, Raph glimpsed up the library, careful of the Hush Bats. He did not want to be taken to the kiddie room. He was expecting one to come right out of the endless ceiling, flying straight for him and his ridiculously noisy brothers.

He heard nothing. He saw nothing. His back faced his brothers as Raph kept his eyes out for those bats. He quirked an "eyebrow" when the silence settled in.

"Gee Donnie. Didn't think you'd be the one to listen." Curious, the snapping turtle finally spun around to face his brothers.

What he truly did not expect was bumping right into Leo's shell. A relatively low "oomph" emitted. Now, he felt confused. "Guys?" Raph tried calling. "What's the big idea? Why are we stoppin' out of nowhere? We got Mayhem to save!" He glimpsed at his phone to April's frantic texts.

Looking back up, he noticed Leo wrapping his hands over Donnie's mouth. Their heads were blocking his view of something. Or rather, someone. Raph leaned his head to the side and found–.

"(Name)!?"

In a whisper, of course.

You would hope so.

He nearly yelled for the world to hear.

The Hush Bats above dilated their pupils in great suspicion.

From your end, you watched the wide-eyes and shocked looks plastered on their faces. Leo covering Donnie's mouth before he could scream at seeing you pop out of the blue. A deep fluster evident on Donnie's features. You did kind of jump from behind a ledge.

That wasn't what mattered, though.

"Why hello." You somehow dropped the whole warning-spiel to give a quick greeting, hand on your hip.

But it wasn't quick.

"(Name)!?" Raph quietly exclaimed. Perfect timing for an oxymoron. "What on Earth are you doing here!?" He rushed to you, giant hands on your shoulder and lightly shook you. "Were you trapped here?!"

"Raph, Raphie." You lightly knocked off his grip. "I'm fine. I was looking for a book to finish my biology project. I would really love to get to this concert coming this weekend, but I can't dance my soul out when my grade hangs on the balance of Mr. Racataian." You waved dramatically.

Donnie yanked off his twin-brother's hands. "I had an excellent cadence going before you ruined it, Leo!" He scrunched his face. "Keep your germs off. Who knows where your hands have been?" Donnie sanitized the area around his mouth. He faced you, the disgust wiped off in an instant. He raised an eyebrow, obviously judging the decision you just made.

"Allow me to digest this." He repeated slowly, "You are looking for a book."

"Mhm."

"To help you with a school project."

"Yes."

"From the human world."

"Uh-huh."

"And you're not searching in any of New York's public libraries, but in the Mystic Library?"

"Sums it up."

"'Sums it up?' That is downright absurd!" His eye twitched. "Why?"

"Yeah. No offense, (Name)," Leo intercepted. "This lowkey doesn't feel like the right place for you to be searching for human books. You should try one of the higher stories." He quirkily pointed up.

"Oh, you're right! They'd–."

"You should neither be endorsing this nor encouraging them, Leonardo!" Donnie hissed and went to pinch between his brows. "Dear Darwin, you have access to the Internet, (Name)!"

"I'm well aware, Don."

He blinked incredulously. "Oh Bohr. What have they done to you, my brightest pupil? My intelligent (Name)! Has New York decided to reduce state funding on public education as of late?" He suddenly hugged you, garnering shock from Leo and Raph. Donnie rarely– much emphasis on rarely– touched anyone out of his will. So this said a lot. "We shall fix this. An old fashion petition won't do. They never listen to those–."

"Donnie!" You shoved the mutant off, ignoring his endearing title for you. "Did you seriously believe I hadn't visited the public libraries?"

"I'm afraid you are not making any sense, (Name). To come here implies there weren't any books at all relating to your topic–!"

"Of course, there are!" You ruffled your hair. "But my teacher begged everyone to put in forty sources– all of them as books– or else he'd drop our grades by two whole letters! I don't know what's his deal with bringing in physical work! It's been decades! Can he please catch up to today's technology!?"

Yes, you were in fact whispering still.

"Sheesh." Leo crossed his arms and muttered, "And here I thought high school's all about the sports. Y'know, the better stuff."

"Why are you guys even here?"

In a blink of an eye, Raph tensed up. Hands on his head, he panicked as he snatched his phone out of you-don't-know-where. He frantically tapped his thumbs on the screen, texting. You looked around. "And where's Mikey and April?"

"Mikey. . . kinda got taken to the kiddie room." Leo rubbed his nape. "He did that to himself though, so I wouldn't really worry 'bout him that much."

"Oh." You snickered. "So he's the one I heard that loud echo from." You would have laughed real hard at that.

"Not gonna lie, I kinda wanna do the same thing. But those bats up there are giving me the heebie-jeebies."

"And so where's April? Isn't she usually with you guys too?"

"Mayhem. . . got stuck in her mirror."

". . ."

Leo twiddled with his fingers.

You freaked out, your one spare hand wiggling and everything. "Why are you guys even chatting with me!?" Your eye twitched. "Are you lost or something? There's some Magic 8 Ball thing down that hall. You could've found the book by now–!"

"Which I would've found if it weren't for my annoying colleague interupting my memory rhythm." Donnie gritted his teeth. "But fret you shall not, (Name). Everything is handled without flaw as long as my intellect is around. Nothing is necessary except for your mind."

Ah. Your daily dose of Donnie's wisdom. You didn't even have to ask.

"Woah-ho. Now you're blaming me, mi hermano?" The latter had his hands up defensively. "You're the only one with directions inside your head. I was only trying to stop you from getting snatched by bats. Did you get that?" He spelled each letter, "B-A-T-S."

"You!" Robotic arms from Donnie's Battle Shell snatched Leo and shook him like an earthquake. "I won medalions from the National Spelling Bee, you simpleton! You can't even spell 'soldier' without replacing the letter 'd' with a 'j'! Who are you to quest–!?

Oh Bohr."

He did in fact yell.

You and Leo gaped with wide-open jaws as your friend with a big ego dramatically floated away by bats.

"Donnie!" Raph nearly screeched.

⇨ ⇨ ⇨

"I know Donnie has once again messed up our mission as he does on virtually every mission." Leo glanced between April's panicked messages on his brother's phone and you. His sights lingering on you each time.

"Are you trying to impress (Name) by putting down Donnie?"

"Wha–What? Of course not." Leo nervously chuckled. "W-Where did you get that idea from?" He looked at you yet again. The moment you made direct eye-contact, he tried putting up his nonchalant facade. Instead, he looked kind of goofy.

You wouldn't tell him that though.

Raph pointed at him, narrowing his eyes. "Are you trying to get Donnie fired?" Before his brother's hand slammed his face.

"We'll discuss that later." He swung to change the subject. "Let's just focus on getting that book, so we can save Mayhem." Leo held his chin, pondering. "We need to remember the song. How did it go? Something about a Loom."

"Loom 16." You heard it briefly when you had gone off in search of your buddies. You were sure if you could catch onto the beat again, you could remember all the lyrics– directions.

"That's right!" Raph snapped his fingers softly. "Take Corridor B. . . Uhhh. And then where'd it go?"

"Oh my God." You clasped your mouth. The other two whipped their heads. "What happened, (Name)?"

"I forgot to tell you guys!" said you in a hushed voice. "Those two guys from the Foot Clan are here to mess things up again!"

"You said who!?" Raph crashed into another body.

"Us." There they were, Foot Brute and Foot Lieutenant, right in the flesh. "How thoughtful of you to let us make our own welcoming, instead of spoiling it for others." The Lieutenant signaled in your direction with a sneer.

"Hey! Step aside, chump! We're on a crucial mission!"

"Which is why we're going to throw a little monkey wrench into your plans."

"We'll see about that." Raph charged to land an attack, but meeting the Brute's palm. Everyone quickly remembered the Hush Bats hanging patiently along a beam. The two backed off. Blue hopped on his brother's back. "We can't fight these guys! We have to be quiet, or we'll never get the book to free Mayhem!"

"So we fight them as quietly as the quietest lions in the jungle of silence!" Raph grunted. "Like a boss!"

"Oh dear me. Where's your other partner?" The Lieutenant pointed. Without a thought, the two mutants whipped their heads behind another time. Figuratively, your missing figure left a flashing dotted outline. Raph shrieked, "(Name)'s been kidnapped! What have you–?"

Book dust puffed out into his face. He nearly bursted into a sneeze if not for Leo's quick reaction.

"Oh, it's so on." Blue's competitive spirit tingled.

Raph stomped on the Brute's foot. Leo gave a real disgusting wet willy to the Lieutenant's ear. Things quickly escalated to making one another laugh as hard and loud as possible. Even the other visitors looked disturbed, either wheeling back their squeaking chairs or simply turning away.

BONK!

.

.

THUD!

BUNK!

.

.

THUD!

Leo and Raph froze in the middle of their shenanigans as two heavy books struck the heads of the Feet. What an odd name, you would have thought. The impact created loud sounds that resonated throughout the library.

Two more victims for the kiddie room were claimed that day.

"Hey guys. Sorry, I went off for a mome–. Why is there a book in your mouth, Leo?"

He spat out the book, its spine drenched saliva.

"Oh. . ."

"You. . . did not see anything."

You slid down the bookcase. The one book with the fish-like Yōkai remained in your grasp. Raph practically teared up upon your sight. "Y-You weren't kidnapped after all. . .!"

"Thank you for the concern, but why would I be. . .?" You blinked amusingly before waving it off. "Nevermind." You pointed in a specific direction. "Let's head this way. There's Corridor B right there. Someone told me where this 'waterfall' is."

♪ Up the pole through the hole to the waterfall. ♫

"Oh-ho! So he did mention a waterfall." Leo snapped his fingers. "You're a life-saver, (Name). Up high!" You lightly high-five– or is it high-three– his hand.

Raph exhaled, patting your back– a usual sign of either appreciation or reassurance you came to learn. "Like a boss."

"See?" Blue nudged Red. "Like I said, who needs Donnie when–."

"Don't even think about it, Leo."

A sudden low ring of Raph's phone vibrated. The snapping turtle proceeded to take it out, but your hands were quick to stop him. "Shh! Don't you dare answer that. We don't know how loud whoever's calling is!"

Raph looked unsure. "It's April. I hafta take this or she's gonna go berserk! Don't want her to think we've forgotten about Mayhem!"

"Hey, I'd love talk to my best friend too, but right now, if any loud noise–."

Much to your damned misfortune, however, a heavy– extra heavy– book fell onto the floor beside the snapping turtle.

He did not realize he was leaning on the bookcase.

THUD!

And on the cover, there existed the title: How to Not Drop Anything.

The Hush Bats, in a single second, clouded your vision like a fog. A vein popped on Raph's forehead, gritting his teeth. He groaned exasperately. "Okay, I've had just about enough of this jumble! Forget being quiet, we got our buddy Mayhem to save!" His tonfās glowed red.

You frantically waved your arms. "Hold on a second, Raph–!"

"Power smash-a-roni!"

It was too late. You and the red-eared slider were tightly shoved against each other, being held in a gigantic holographic hand as Raph activated his energy construct. "You're seriously going to wreck the entire library!?" Leo shouted. "OW. Watch the grip, King Kong! You're squeezing the very life out of us!"

♪ Down the stairs past the Ibis Tapestry. ♫

Raph's eyes lit up at the banner with a long-beaked bird on it. "Ibis Tapestry!" The Hush Bats swarmed around you once again.

You screamed, "To your left!"

The sliding bookshelves were found. Raph simply smashed his way past them. "To think I was gonna apply here as an assistant too!" You wailed. "I'm never going to be able to come back here as long as I'm associated with you guys!"

The Hush Bats began to charge right at you three. But Leo yanked out his ōdachi. With a swipe, a portal opened up, sending all the bats right into the bookshelves opposite.

"Can someone tell me if we're almost there?" Leo had been waving and brandishing his ōdachi. The repetitive high-pitched squeaks were heard when the blade struck something. "Ughh. These bats are getting on my nerves! My arms are getting sore!"

♪ Up the pole through the hole to the waterfall. ♫

"Up the pole!" Raph yelled until he broke through the fountain. The book, Complete Compendium of Escape Rituals, glimmered in the center of a large podium. One of the shiniest covers you could ever witness glowing.

"Don't worry I got it!" Leo portal'ed himself right over and snatched the book. But the Hush Bats rushed in as well. He grinned, "Oh yeah! Hero of the day!"

"Leo! Hand over the book!" Raph urged. "While you're at it, portal (Name) out of here!"

Your eyes widened. "What are you do–!?" Raph used his energy construct and flung you and himself over. You shrieked, "You little! You forgot I'm a humaaannn!" Leo passed the book to his brother, and swung his ōdachi. The portal that appeared behind you teleported you away from getting a concussion and five weeks of a coma on a bookshelf.

As two brothers exploded through the walls, crashing through the glass, the Bat Librarian– busy stamping books– instantly painted her face across in horror when she looked up. Her wide yellow eyes as she watched the destruction unfold right above the main chamber.

Oh boy did she herself explode into rage. "You! I'll pummel you into papyrus!" she hissed. Her normal Yōkai form mutated into something larger, expanding her wings and all of her six limbs.

Leo gulped thickly.

"Err. . .

. . .Is it too late to be pardoned?"

So much for being the "Face."

She soared up, seizing the two mutants, and body-slammed them down into another room. The debris scattering across the puzzle-tiled floor and unicorn-themed carpet. The book was still safe in Raph's grasp.

Hold on.

Puzzles and unicorns?

"Oh my God. It's about time you showed up! Why the hell would you teleport me here of all places, Leo!?"

They groaned, recovering from the brutal impact. Only to discover you were tied in jumpropes and about to be sacrificed to. . . Mikey?!

They had crashed into the kiddie room.

Their box turtle of a younger brother, covered in glow-in-the-dark marker and his head crowned with feathers, sat high and mighty on a stack of giant books like a throne. The armrests were made with alphabet blocks. Donnie sat on the side, fanning him with leaves. The Foot Brute and Lieutenant were also tied in jumpropes and hung like cocoons. The other Yōkai chanted and beated the drums.

He swayed his attention from you to the huge raging bat climbing up the rubble, hissing at the turtles.

Mikey, as if declared the king of the jungle, pointed at the Bat Librarian with crazed eyes.

"N E W T O Y!"

April would refuse to believe their fiasco if it weren't for you having a broken rib and bruises on your limbs.

At least your ancient teacher handed you that perfect score.

➵ ➵ ➵

A/N: Fish consume frogs. You wanted to learn about frog anatomy, and it ended up being a cookbook surrounding frogs.

☆TMNT MASTERLIST☆

[x - romantic]

[& - platonic]

GENERAL

ROTTMNT

Caught (x yokai!reader)

Little presents (& little!sister!reader)

Language check! (x bilingual!reader) [#1 in queue]

2012!TMNT

Crush too much? (x reader) [#2 in queue]

LEO

Ally (x fem!ninja!reader)

Love is blind (x fem!blind!reader)

Drabble #1 (transfer!Leo x nb!reader)

Pulling your hair out (x nb!reader) [#6 in queue]

DONNIE

Tech support - masterlist (x spiderman!nb!reader)

But feelings are scary... (x nb!reader)

Advantages of having fur (x male!hyena!reader) [#5 in queue]

Pulling your hair out (x nb!reader) [#6 in queue]

Well, that was awkward... (x fem!reader) [#3 in queue]

MIKEY

Coming soon...

Coming soon...

RAPH

Raph's secret (x fem!reader) [writing ✎]

Coming soon...

can you do a leo x fem ninja reader here the story the reader in a clan called otsutsuki clan (from naruto) that are unquestionably strongest clan and ally of the hamato clan the reader was told by her ancestors to find someone named hamato yoshi and help him stop the foot clan getting the mystic metal and created the shredder when the reader spotted the yokai turtles fighting the foot clan they decided to help them

Ooo that's really cool idea! And I haven't watched Naruto yet but I did a little research on it, I hope that's okay!

Sorry for any mistakes!

━═━═━═━═━

Ally

• when your clan members find out about an organization trying to recreate Shredder by collecting his armor they were pretty on edge

• yeah, Otsutsuki clan was the strongest clan but the demon wasn't something even they could look down on

• the clan responsible for keeping Shredder from destroying the world was Hamato clan, they had the most backstory with the Foot clan who is now trying to bring back Shredder, but after the disappearance of the last of the members - Hamato Yoshi - the Foot clan's activity increased

• however, some time ago, your ancestors gained an information that Hamato Yoshi is still alive, and because your clan is an ally to them they opted to take action

• so they decided that you were the best fit to travel all the way to New York, find him and help him stop the Foot clan

"Prepare yourself, you're going to New York tomorrow. Your goal is to find Hamato Yoshi and prevent Foot clan from ressurecting the Shredder."

'...okay?'

• it was pretty sudden, you need to admit, but the thought of going somewhere far on a mission was exciting

• your ancestors belived you're capable of doing it alone so you're not going to let them down

• unfortunately for you, finding one member of Hamato clan in a big city was more difficult than you thought

• finding four at the same time was way easier

Standing on the edge of a building, looking at the starless sky, you sighted deeply. Vivid lights illuminating form the city streets painted your face in various colors as you thought about your next course of action. New York was big but you were determined. And 'were' is a key world there. You were searching for far to long without any good results, which made you frustrated.

The sound of busy streets filled your ears making you lower your eyes scanning the cars and people below you. You knew you're not able to enjoy the same life as they have - you simply didn't belong there. Especially with the horns poking out of your head. You didn't really mind though, even if you were a little curious.

The world didn't let you think for to long, however, when a loud bang made you look at the dark alley on the other side of the building. Swiftly jumping across the roof you peaked over the edge searching for the source of the noise. There hidden in the shadows stood several dark clothed figures, who appeared to have been dressed like ninja, with visible red footprints on their masks.

"Huh, so this is the Foot clan?" you murmured rising an eyebrow.

Your attention hadn't stayed on them for to long when four new silhouettes jumped from the previously broken window. Honestly, you were pretty surprised seeing four humanoid turtles wielding traditional Japanese weapons fighting with what happened to be also your enemies. What was even more shocking was one of them suddenly just teleporting behind the ninjas and slashing them with his sword, after which they tore apart like peace of paper.

'What are kappas doing here?' you started to wonder. Were yokai supposed to be in New York? Did your ancestors said anything about it before?

"Leo! Don't just jump in like that!" shouted the biggest one of them with spiky shell and red bandana.

"Don't you worry, hermano! I got this." the other answered him standing proudly, one hand holding his sword over his shoulder and the other resting on his hip.

Seconds later at least ten more ninjas appeared.

You rolled your eyes muttering about turtle's over-confidence.

"How much more of them are here?" asked the spotted turtle with orange bandana tied on his head. "I'm starting to get tired, man!"

"Our chances of winning are rapidly decreasing. At this rate, they will overpower us in approximately five minutes and twenty-"

"Oh, shut it, Donnie." Leo, as the other turtle referred to him before, harshly cut of the purple masked reptile wearing mismatched goggles. "Have more faith in us! Besides, you guys have me."

The rest groaned (you included).

The Foot clan didn't let them talk any longer, the ninjas jumping at them from every side. It seemed like their number was only getting bigger and bigger no matter how many of them the turtles already defeated. You could see them struggling with dodging their enemies attacks, not having the time to strike themselves.

You really should be looking for Hamato Yoshi. But you also couldn't just leave like that. And besides, maybe they knew something about his whereabouts?

Gracefully jumping down the fire escape attached to the side of the building you made your way to the bottom, white noble's finery with magatama design you wore swaying behind you. Landing on the head of one of the ninjas you pinned the paper creation to the ground swiftly tearing it apart.

"Woah!" the smallest turtle jumped back surprised at your appearance.

With a few quick movements, the next ninjas lost their heads, turning into thin sheets that floated in the air for a moment and fell to the ground. Your movements were agile and precise, easily breaking through layers of enemies, leaving them no time to react. Soon after, only the four reptiles were left standing before you, stunned.

The red-eared slider, you assumed by the crescent-like stripes over his eyes and yellow stripes on his upper arms and thighs, stepped forward.

"Wow." he breathed, then rised his voice realizing you may not have heard him. "That was, just- wow."

You furrowed your eyebrowe, which he probably took as a bad sign.

"I mean- you were, like, super cool, and-" Leo started tripping on his words.

The turtles behind him sheard a look.

"What my brother is tryin' to say," the one with red bandana approached you, placing his hand on the shorter reptile's shoulder. "we are grateful for your help!"

"You're welcome." you replied swiping the imaginary dust off of yourself.

He thought you were cool? You knew you are skilled, you trained for most of your life, your clan acknowledgwd your strength by sending you on this solo mission. You heard many things about yourself, but cool?

It left a weird warm feeling in you...

"Anyway, I'm Raph! And this is Leo, Donnie and Mikey." Raph said pointing he said pointing on the blue, purple and orange masked turtle in order.

"I'm y/n of the Otsutsuki clan."you straightened your posture, giving them a short nodd. " What are kappas doing in New York?"

"Kappas?" questioned Mikey tilting his head to the side.

The softshell turtle stepped ahead to stand beside him.

"Kappas, my dear brother, are a reptiloid kami with similarities to yōkai found in traditional Japanese folklore. They tend to look like turtles." he then turned his head toward you. "But, no, we are not kappas. We are actually mutants."

'Mutants?'

Suddenly blue bandana covered head butted itself into your view. You tensed at the proximity, sly smirk appearing on the reptile's face.

"And answering to your question, we just were being awesome. Or, well, at least I know I was being awesome. Still am." Leo tried to lean by his hand beside you but failed miserably by missing the brick wall and almost falling on his face.

Raph, who stood behind him, facepalmed.

"Please, don't listen to my moron twin." Donnie rolled his eyes.

The turtle yelled something about not being a moron but you only shook your head. Deciding it's the best time to ask about the Hamato clan member, you spoke up again.

"Do any of you know someone named Hamato Yoshi?" you glanced at their faces, they seemed shocked for some reason.

When you were about to explain your situation, Leo answered excited.

It's your lucky day, amigo! I just know exactly where he is now!" not giving you the time to answer, the turtle wrapped his arm around yours and tugged you further into the alley, where the only noticeable thing was a sewer manhole.

"Hey, wha-?!" your face started to feel hot for an unknown for you reason.

The rest of his brothers stood still looking as the red-eared slider lifted the metal hatch and literally threw you inside, jumping right after.

"Was it some kind of 'love at first sight' or something?"

"Maybe. And Nardo is gonna make a total fool out of himself before her while trying to impress her."

"Yeah, probably."

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Sorry it took so long 😭

Literally got like 2 tests and 2 projects the first two days after the break and I needed to rush some things (one day I'm gonna die bc of school)

Hope you liked that! ^^

A little sneak peek on art I'm doing for a request bc I haven't done one in some time

It's for @tintins-admirer-n-1-fr-fr request for the blind reader so I think you can guess what's it about lol

Did I made it before even writing the full request? Yeah, yeah I did

YO! I JUST READ YOUR CAUGHT FIC AND MA'AM??? WHAT WAS THIS BLESS TO MY EYES LIKE- 🥺🥺❤️❤️❤️

I really like your writing and i have this idea on my mind for soo fricking long. I already send this for like,three people but no one make it. You are my last hope 🥺

Ok ok ok,the idea and scenario is:

Rise!Leo x blind reader (alredy looking cute right??? But wait,her me out here. And ah,reader can be female,preferable)

Leo always visited her exactly because she's blind so the reader wouldn't mind about him been a turtle for obvious reasons,but one day reader goes "i wanna know how you look like,can i touch your face?" and of course this boy PANIC cuz the blindness is what making this friendship possible. Even afraid,Leo allow her to feel his face finally knowing about the mutant thing. Now,you would think "she gross out didn't she?"

Ha!

No!

Reader just say "i don't care about your look or aparence,i love you for who you are"

Yep,she confess,like it's nothing and this boy is flabbergasted. Of course he confess too like,who wouldn't after this??? And the kissie kiss in the end for the ⭐️flavor⭐️

What you think? Good enough to write?

ASJDJSJD THANK YOU SM♡

And this idea is so cute omg, I actually wanted to write something similar for Leo cuz I had idea like that and now I have an excuse to write it!

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Love is blind

Leo gently knocked on the window, standing on a fire escape and leaned on the railing. He tapped his foot to the rhythm of the song playing constantly in his head for all day, looking at the bright lights of passing cars below him. Today's night was really nice, warm wind, clear dark sky and the thought of seeing the person he's been waiting to talk to for almost the entire week. The turtle was busy trying to keep the city as safe as he and his brothers could, not having much of free time.

Leo tugged on the material of his blue bandana when he heard a soft click of opening the window. He looked up and smiled noticing a familiar figure.

"Hello there. Long time no see, Leo."

He chuckled at the obvious joke, walking up to the windowsill you were leaning on.

"Well, hello to you too." he crooked his head to the side (not like you actually could see tho). "How did you know it was me?"

"Who else would knock on my window in the middle of the night?" you retored with a smile appearing on your lips.

The turtle made a humming sound comedically information you of him thinking hard on your question, which caused you to let out a quiet giggle, knowing that louder noise could bring unwanted attention. He grinned at that softly, happy he was able to make you laugh.

He knew, despite your constant assuring, that it made you upset when he wasn't able to visit for longer periods of time. He didn't blame you, really, he was equally upset about the thought but he couldn't just tell you why he was away for so long. Was he supposed to just say that he's fighting crime being a ninja mutant turtle? Yeah, sure, that won't happen.

The only thing making this friendship possible was the fact that you couldn't see who he was - who most would be scared of or feel grossed out. And you literally couldn't see.

Sometimes, Leo felt bad for thinking that your blindness was something good. After all, he wished you could see the beauty this world had to offer, how many cool places he would have shown you! The turtle could've only imagine how nice it would have been watching Lou Jitsu movies with you or playing console games or holding hands and looking into each other's eyes- no, wait, he needs to get his head out of the clouds.

'But this can't happen' is what he thought. Not when he's so different than you.

Unfortunately, these thoughts didn't stop the warm feeling that blossomed in his chest when he was with you.

"Hmm, you do have a point." he spoke when a smirk appeared on his face. "Unless you have someone else visiting you at night?"

"Of course not! You're the only one, Leo." you snorted backing away from the window. "Would you like to come in?"

"Yeah, very much." his cheeks started to feel warm as he hoisted himself on a windowsill and jumped inside the building.

He walked up to the nightstand and flicked on the small lamp, dim light scattering around the room. He sat on his usual spot at the foot of the bed and watched as you closed the window. Every time he looked at you the only thing on his mind was how sad it was there you couldn't see how beautiful you are. Therefore, Leo swore to himself to compliment you often, even if you only saw that as a joking flirt.

He sighed, looking away. He really shouldn't get his hopes up.

After a while, the turtle felt the mattress dip as you sat beside him, resting your back on the wall.

"Everything okay?" you asked concerned.

"Yeah, it's fine." he answered quickly. Leo didn't want you to worry so he changed the topic. "How have you been the past week? Anything interesting happened?"

For some reason, he seemed somehow off today but you decided to not push on if he didn't want to talk about it.

"Ah, it was boring as always without someone's constant nagging over my ear." you laughed hearing an offended gasp beside you. "But nothing really happened. How about you, Leo?"

"Well, me and my brothers were pretty busy with stuff, but I managed to get a hold on that game I've been talking to you about last time!" he excitedly waved his hands in the air, his gaze landing on your face.

You smiled, happy he cheered up.

"Oh, yeah, I remember! The one based on the Lou Jitsu movie, right? Tell me about it!"

"Yes, this one! So, when I started the game..."

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"He did what-" you tried to take a breath while hugging a pillow to your chest, laughing uncontrollably and almost falling of your bed.

"THAT WAS EXACTLY MY REACTION WHEN RAPH TOLD ME-" the red-eared turtle was already halfway on the floor, also trying his hardest to control the cackling leaving his mouth.

After almost a two hours of catching up with each other's lives, Leo brought up his genius brother's latest incident with trying to improve the mobility of a toaster - whatever that meant. Apparently, the poor device ended up exploding, causing the destruction of some part of the kitchen. Leo wasn't home at the time so you could imagine his shock seeing the oldest brother making Donnie clean the dark smudges off the walls.

"You really don't have any boring days with your family, huh?" you asked jokingly, wiping the small tears that formed on the corners of your eyes.

Couple more chuckles after, the blue-bandana turtle lifted himself back by your side on the soft cushion as his gaze drifted to your face. He always loved hearing the sound of your laughter, how you couldn't calm yourself down sometimes, the way your wide grin caused the corners of your eyes to crinkle and that happy glint in your usually dull pupils- He's getting ahead of himself again, isn't he?

Covering the bottom of his reddening face (even if it wasn't necessary), he sighted and, apparently, to loudly because concern immediately appeared on your face.

"Leo," you started gently. "are you sure everything is okay?"

Your worried tone somehow struck right through his chest because he struggled to not pour out everything that's been on his mind lately. You were his safe space, someone who would listen to him spilling the contents of his mind, willing to help or just be there for him. Of course, he had his brothers but there were some things that he found difficult to talk to them. But you always knew what he wanted- no, needed to hear.

And Leo was scared of how much you affected him.

"Uh," that's why he did what he found to be the easiest move - bottle his feelings up. "Yeah, everything is good, just a little tired."

You frowned. Knowing from the start that something has been bothering him, you didn't pry, hoping he would eventually told you himself. Though, he started to rebuild the wall that you worked so hard on putting down. You won't let him isolate his feelings like that again.

After a brief silence, you stopped messing with your fingers and filled with determination (get the reference pls), you turned to fully face him.

"Leo, I want to know how you look like." you stated firmly but your voice faltered saying the next sentence. "Can I touch your face?"

He was not expecting that at all. Or maybe just decided to ignore the possibility of this situation for the good of his mental health. That turtle absolutely did not know how to react to that so his body decided that panic is the best option.

"I mean- if you don't feel comfortable with that, then I'm not forcing you or anything! Yeah, that probably sounded weird anyway-" as the answer for his silence you started to frantically wave your hands before your chest. "I just thought that- or maybe, like, I haven't thought at all-"

"Okay."

You stopped your rambling hearing the quiet breathy answer.

"...you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Soft humm left your mouth as you slowly started to lift your hands. Nervousness filled you, you never asked how he looked like before nor did you care, but now, sitting with him in your room and enjoying yourselves, you slowly started to realize your desire to know more about him - all of him. You wanted to see him.

Leo was the only one who treated you like any other person, not a little child who couldn't do anything on it's own. He was the one who never failed to make your day better with just his mere presence.

I wished to tell him how much he meant to you.

Suddenly, you felt a cold skin pressing to your wrists making you aware of how you stopped all your movements for couple of seconds. Small gasp left your lips at the roughness of his hands and how gently they hold yours. They felt so unusual, their size and temperature were so different of yours, making questions rise in your brain but never leaving your mouth.

With a soft look in his eyes, the turtle began to lead your hands to his face, closing his eyelids and trying to calm himself down. Shiver went down through his body as he felt your warm palms on his cheeks, fingers gently tracing on his skin. His own hands left your wrists thinking you'll going to pull away soon with disgusted expression oh your face, telling him to get out and never come here again. Leo tried to prepare himself for this outcome but he knew that nothing would stop his heart from breaking.

But instead of rejection his eyes snapped open at the quiet 'wow' and the feeling of your hands attentively studying his cheeks, snout, corners of his mouth and soft material of his iconic blue bandana.

"What are you?" you muttered still amazed, no revulsion behind your words, only pure curiosity of experiencing something new.

"A turtle." he answered equally as quiet. "Mutant turtle exactly."

"So you have a shell?" you asked stopping your movements.

Leo nodded but upon realizing you couldn't see that he lowly hummed making your palms slide down his neck and to his back.

"Can you hide in it? Or is it to small? Wait, should I even ask about that? Oh no, did I do something inappropriate-"

"NO! No, it's okay!" he quickly assured you. "I can easily hide in it. Uh, but..."

Your hands found his face again and rested on his cheeks as you waited for him to go on.

"Don't you feel... grossed out? Disgusted? I'm not human, I'm so different form you and- " he paused to take a deep breath, preparing himself for the next words leaving his mouth. "I probably should apologize. I should told you sooner but I used that fact that your not able to tell who I am to keep this friendship. And if you don't want to end it because of me being a mutant then for being selfish liar and that's completely valid-"

"Leonardo Hamato."

The turtle stopped hearing his full name and a small smile on your lips.

"I don't care." breathy laugh leaving you after hearing his confused noise. "I love you for who you are, you know. The one who is there for me when I'm lonely, who makes me laugh and not feel like I'm all alone there. So why would I care if in addition you're a mutant turtle, which, by the way, is like insanely cool."

His brain has stopped working. Wow, good job on breaking him.

"You, what- huh-" the poor turtle tripped in his word not being able to form an understandable sentence, his face becoming warmer and warmer every second.

"Are you okay, Leo?" you asked feeling the unnatural heat from his face.

"Huh? Yeah! I am, hah- yeah, I'm okay, sorry. It's just," he reached and lightly grabbed on one of your wrists. "I wasn't expecting that... If anything, I thought I would be the one to told you I love you. That is, if you wouldn't have freaked out haha..."

You laughed, not as nervous as he did, bringing your other hand to cover your face. You could understand him thought, why he was hesitant to tell you. Most people would sure have freaked out. But you're not 'most people'.

"Hey," you caught his attention, softness in your voice. "can I kiss you?"

You are going to kill him, he thought.

"Woah, you're really straightforward today, huh?" he asked teasingly hoping that would cover the noticeable embarrassment.

"Day?"

"Yeah." he confirmed chuckling. "We were talking so long the sun is already rising."

"Oh well." you shrugged. "I guess it's the perfect moment then."

Without any other warning you moved forward, your lips pressing softly to his. Warm sensation pulled in your chest, your own cheeks now heating up. It didn't take long for Leo to kiss you back lifting his free hand to lay on the back of your head, softly creasing your hair.

After several seconds that felt like an eternity, you pulled away taking a breathe, wide smile plastered in your face.

"So, are we now..?" Leo asked with the same grin, eyes sparkling with adoration.

"Hmm, I don't know, are we?" you teased tilting your head.

He laughed tugging your closer to him, wrapping his arms around you.

"Yeah, we definitely are."

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Why can't I just write a fic in few days than a month or something

Anyway, I hope you liked it!